neumu [ cinematronic ]




	The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
	John Stainton Steve Irwin, Terri Irwin, Magda Szubanski, David Wenham, Lachy Hulme, Kenneth Ransom, Kate Beahan 2002		A crock. Manic, foolhardy Aussie naturalist and conservationist Steve Irwin, who gets down and dirty in the Outback on his TV show "The Crocodile Hunter," stars in this ostensibly humorous vanity project and proves he has all the comic genius of your obnoxious, loudmouthed Uncle Wilbur. Irwin's segments, shot as though they're part of his regular program, feature purportedly unrehearsed sequences with genuine beasts of the wild: deadly snakes, spiders and toothy, trap-jawed crocodiles ready for a rassle. It's a jot more fun than a zoology seminar, but the rest of the film is silly, amateurish fiction about a croc that swallows a secret U.S. satellite beacon that fell to earth and the inept agents sent to retrieve it. Clumsy slapstick comes courtesy of Irwin and a few Australian actors, including portly Magda Szubanski (Farmer Hoggett's wife in "Babe"). Steve's wife Terri is on board, as she is on TV, and she's as inconsequential here as she is there. Crikey! What a waste of time and money!