Folks, Harry here with a looksee at this CROCODILE DUNDEE III flick, with a report from The Walkabouter. The Walkabouter is an ol mate of Dundee's. They used to go talk to dirt together. And a clod of dirt recently passed along the latest adventures of Major Dundee (wait... that's a different movie) I mean this Alligator bloke... so enjoy...
Ay mate
You posted some ditty on or about that there CROCODILE DUNDEE III the other day, and let me be day wanker to confirm that there are plans underway to make a new film, though I don't think it has quite the full steam ahead status yet that your previous report seemed to have indicated. However, the film is tentatively set for a February-March start with a moderate budget (on or just under $20 million).
Sure, it's been a quite some time since the last adventure with "Crocodile" Mick Dundee (nearly a dozen years ago), and while the last film was also a hit, I don't think it stands on anyone's top ten list for 1988 or any other year as well.
Well, this film, written by Paul Hogan, Matthew Berry, and Eric Abrams, is tentatively titled CROCODILE DUNDEE IN HOLLYWOOD, and by the title you can pretty much guess what it's about to a degree.
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD
When I heard about the project, I feared that Paul Hogan would be a little too long in the tooth, and the premise a little too familiar. Much to my happy surprise, the script is pretty good. In fact, I really enjoyed it. It has the same "fish out of water" charm as the first film, with some nice character development and humorous moments, without becoming too tired and repetitive. I didn't care for "II", largely because it added nothing new and didn't take the characters anywhere. Fortunately, this one does.
The film starts out years after the last movie, with Dundee living with Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski's character) -- and they have an eight year old son, Mikey. Life seems pretty simple: now that an animal protection act has outlawed the slaughter of crocodiles within the territory, Dundee must now capture the crocs...alive. Sounds easy? Well, the opening is a classic and funny little scene where Mick and Jacko (a fellow croc hunter) are chased up a tree by a hungry crocodile as a nearby tourist group looks on.
Sue is asked by her father to return to the States, to take over the Los Angeles bureau of her family's paper after the man who ran it was killed in a mysterious auto accident. Though she's reluctant to take the job and leave her family, Mick convinces her by offering to come along with their son -- reasoning that the boy should be entitled to choose what path he wants, rather than forcing him into his own profession.
And so, it's off to L.A., where Sue uncovers the late journalist's lead involving a smuggling operation with a B-grade Hollywood production company as a front (what they're smuggling hit me as a clever surprize, and I won't give it away here).
Meanwhile, Mick and son explore the various things southern California has to offer -- movie studios, earthquakes, many (charming) celebrity cameos, and even gay bars! Mick even lands a gig as an animal (read: monkey) trainer for the movie studio Sue is looking into. While the premise -- an outsider comes to Hollywood for the first time -- may seem old hat, Hogan has given us enough new material with wit to make it worthwhile.
CROCODILE III should please the fans of the series -- it gives the title character the same naive innocence as the first movie, and manages to have some heart as well as humor. Perhaps it may have been too long in the coming for this new film to grab a new generation of moviegoers -- but who knows?
But, for now it is time to slice open my last pickled wallaby,
The Walkabouter
