The Crocodile Hunter - Collision Course

Clearly out to prove that no-one can do rustic comedy quite like an Australian outbacker, adventurer Steve Irwin takes his cult TV show, The Croc Files to the big screen in this bizarre docu-comedy.

Most of the movie is straight-to-camera in Irwin’s patented nature documentary style, and these moments work well enough, as our crocoholic wrestles reptiles and pokes poisonous spiders.

Unfortunately the movie’s plot is completely severed from the documentary segments, and involves some nonsense about the CIA chasing chasing a crocodile whose swallowed a NASA satellite.

As such, Irwin is in a limbo, not interacting with the film’s other characters, except for his smiling Stepford wife who looks on his every action with the constant admiration one would expect from a mutant cross between a lapdog and a cheerleader.

Another more pertinent problem stems from Irwin’s relentless loud chirpiness, which is fine in short TV soundbites, but when stretched out to feature length, very quickly becomes a tyranny to rival Adolf Hitler.

Still, the ‘nature documentary as death trap’ moments are impressive and the crocodiles emerge with reputations fully unscathed. Silly.