Fun fact for you folks: up until recently, I have never watched Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles.
I’ve seen the first two movies countless times, but for some reason or another, the stars never aligned and I never got around to seeing that third and final chapter in the Crocodile Dundee trilogy until picking up a Blu-Ray that contained all three films. And so I figured, “why not?”
Released in April 2001 and pretty bombing both commercially and critically, Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles feels less like a sequel to the previous two films and more like one of those reunion specials where the cast of an old television show get together years later to produce one final get together. Think of all those reunion specials; Get Smart Again, Knight Rider 2000, those Incredible Hulk television movies. That’s pretty much Crocodile Dundee in L.A. Having lived in Australia for over a decade, Mick (Paul Hogan), Sue (Linda Kozlowski in what would be her final film role), and their son Mikey move back to Los Angeles so that Sue can take over her father’s newspaper, which naturally results in Mick and son feeling like fish out of water. We also get a plot involving the former editor of said paper who was murdered, leading Mick to try and solve the case, with some hijinks peppered in along the way.
I’ve heard stories that Paul Hogan had been resistant to the idea of doing another Crocodile Dundee for years, so I have to wonder what compelled him to do this one (that he had no involvement in writing.) My biggest issue with L.A. is pretty much the same issue that I had with Highlander III; it feels too much like a retread of the first movie, but nowhere near as good. Don’t get me wrong; Paul Hogan still has that charm and I do appreciate the digs at the movie industry or the way things have changed since the last time we had a Croc Dundee movie whenever they’re brought up. But we’ve already seen Mick as a fish out of water done well with that first film. What we have here still has moments where I can get a chuckle or two, but it’s not quite as much.
For what it’s worth, I enjoyed Crocodile Dundee In L.A. for what it was; one last get together with old friends going on their zany adventures. Most of it feels like retread and the new stuff doesn’t quite hit, but I didn’t come away feeling like I wasted time watching this. Did we need this movie? No, but I didn’t mind this. I thought it was fine.
There hasn’t been another Croc movie since. The closest you can arguably say we got was that Very Excellent Mr. Dundee, but that’s not even close. As far as I know, they never made another Croc movie nor is anyone really planning on it.
Let’s hope they never do.
dtm666 