There is an old axiom in Hollywood that states that if a person had a hit once
with a certain character, then odds are enough people will want to see the character
again in sequels
This trend was very evident during the sequel crazed 80’s and 90’s as we
saw numerous films coming out with Roman Numerals after the title and often
the films were of an inferior quality to those that preceded it driven only
by one factor, greed.
I had some trepidation regarding “Crocodile Dundee in LA” as it seemed
as if the film would be nothing more than star Paul Hogan’s desperate bid to
revive his flagging career, as aside from his car and beer commercials, his
Non-Dundee roles “Almost and Angel” and “Lightning Jack” were largely ignored
by audiences.
The new Dundee film rejoins Paul Hogan with his real life wife Linda Kozlowski
as they raise their son in the Australian Outback. It seems Mick Dundee and
Sue have never bothered to get married, but have a happy life with one another
and their son Michael. Mick is starting to wonder if he is getting to old to
be a Croc Wrangler and what direction his son will go. Will young Mike be a
Crocodile Wrangler like his father, or a journalist like his mother.
Mick’s ponderings are put aside as Sue is asked by her newspaper-owning father
to head up the LA office after the sudden death of the Editor there.
Thinking that the move would be great for them all the family heads off
to LA.
What happens next is the formula that made the original film such a success
as Mick attempts to survive the Urban Jungle with his outback ways. The film
offers a number of funny scenarios as Mick deals with everything from freeways, fast food, and aggressive single women.
The comedy of the film is set against a very thin backdrop of some bad
studio execs that are up to no good. This storyline is very thin, and seems to
be inserted into the film simply as a method for Hogan to take a break from
the comedy to play hero. That being said, the film while not having much of
a plot had some funny moments, and Hogan once again showed that despite being typecast as a one character wonder, with any type
of a story, his easygoing charm could make him a box office draw.
All in all, not a bad day in LA.
3 stars out of 5
