Crocodile Dundee II (1988)

After the success of Crocodile Dundee, it was probably a no-brainer that a sequel would be given the greenlight. And it came along two years later. A lot of the main players return, but the main twist on the material this time around is that the fish out of water main character returns to settle back in his own pond for a while.

Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan) is living happily with his partner, Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski), in New York. He still has his quirks, of course, but he seems nice and settled. But all that changes when Sue's ex-husband photographs a drug cartel killing someone and sends the photographs to Sue. That makes Sue a target, which makes Mick think that she might be safer if they head back to Australia and lay low for a while. The baddies follow, sorely underestimating the fact that Mick is even more of a force to be reckoned with when he's on his home turf.

The fact that this was made so soon after the first film, and has Hogan so easily slipping back into his character, ends up being a big plus for the film. Familiarity may breed contempt, but it also breeds comfort and contentment at times, and this is what you will get here if you enjoyed the first film. What you won't get, however, are many laughs. It's a shame that when Paul and Brett Hogan wrote the script for this outing they forgot to keep the laughs going along with the chase/thriller scenario. Not that the whole thing is laugh-free. It's just that most of the jokes are minor ones, and a bit too few and far between.

The direction by John Cornell is exactly the same as his direction on the first film, there are some nice shots of Australia, and he soundtrack has one tune that I enjoy on it - Real Wild Child (Wild One), performed by Iggy Pop.

Hogan and Kozlowski pair up better here than they did in the first film, mainly thanks to the latter not now having to show her being won over by the former's rough charm. John Meillon has good fun reprising his role (Walter), and he gets some more screentime thanks to his character being grabbed by the cartel as someone they think may help them catch Mick. Hechter Ubarry and Juan Fernandez are stereotypical cartel villains, and they feel like a real threat at times, while the rest of the supporting cast doesn't boast too many familiar faces, with the exception of a young-ish Luis Guzman and Charles S. Dutton being involved for all of five minutes.

It's admirable that the film at least tried to do something different with the characters in this instalment. Everyone involved could have easily just transported Mick to another area (the UK, for example) and allowed him to have another bunch of misunderstandings. They didn't. Although it wouldn't stop them returning to that well thirteen years later, when we got Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles.

5/10

Buy a double-bill here.
And Americans can pick it up here.

Crocodile Dundee (1986)

Crocodile Dundee is never a film that I loved. I have yet to see the sequels, and I can't even say if I actually saw this original film in its entirety, or if I just knew certain moments and jokes so well that it felt as if I had seen it. Which made me unsure of how I would feel now, over three decades after it was initially released.

Well, it turns out that I feel pretty much the same about it as I did when I was a teenager. This is a comedy that will appeal to a wide audience, it doubles down on stereotypes and cliches, but does so with a core of naivete that makes it hard to take umbrage with. Although I'm not sure if Australian viewers would say the same thing (and I would love to find out).

Mick Dundee (Paul Hogan) has garnered a bit of fame, surviving a crocodile attack that brings him to the attention of a travelling journalist, Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski). Sue works for a newspaper owned by her father, and she is dating the editor (Richard, played by Mark Blum), which I guess is the reason she is allowed to make contact with Mick "Crocodile" Dundee, travel around with him, and then get him to visit New York with her. The first third of the film establishes the character of Mick, the rest of the story is standard fish out of water stuff, played to good comedic effect.

Based on an idea by Hogan, who had been working for years on his comedy sketch show (and a few other projects that boosted his profile), Crocodile Dundee is the kind of movie created to please cinema patrons before being the kind of thing you later enjoy on a lazy day off from work. It's not a classic, not by a long stretch, but the central character is as iconic as he is over the top, and there's at least one moment that became part of our collective pop culture reference tapestry for decades.

It's hardly worth going through the cast here, mainly because this is really carried by Hogan in the lead role, and he certainly projects all of the charisma and sweetness and ultra-alpha male qualities that make up the character. Kozlowski does well enough in her role, despite having to portray a character who you just know is going to be won over by the rugged charm of our hero, however unlikely that seems. Blum has a couple of scenes in which he can show how he's basically the polar opposite of Mick, and there are good little turns from John Meillon, David Gulpilil, and Regiinald VelJohnson.

Direction from Peter Faiman is absolutely in line with the script by Ken Shadie and John Cornell. There's nothing too fancy on display, a number of the scenes feel like self-contained sketches, and the slight story takes a back seat to the gags. There's not really any character development, there aren't really any lessons learned beyond what is shown in the setting up of the premise (despite what the film may intend), and our hero is so uncomplicated that it makes even the grand finale feel drama-free.

But not every film has to be a classic. This made me laugh here and there, it wraps everything up in a decent time, and I like Hogan.

6/10

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