Crocodile Hunter: Collision Coures

Starring Steve, Terri and Sue Irwin, Magda Szubanski and David Wenham. Rated PG

CRICKEY!!! Steve Irwin is at it again, only this time he’s bigger, louder and longer in his own big-screen Hollywood blockbuster.

Well, blockbuster is probably stretching it just a tad, but, crickey, however you look at it, The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course is larger than life.

Basically what we get is a movie-length version of a Crocodile Hunter TV show, with Steve and Terri hot on the trail of some of the wide brown land’s biggest, meanest, furriest and most skin-crawling critters, with their conservation and our nerves at stake.

But even as Steve guides us through his latest adventure, all the while talking directly to camera as though it was another episode of his world-famous TV show, a sub plot thickens.

A US spy satellite falls from orbit and disintegrates. But its core, containing millions of invaluable photographs, survives and falls to Earth over northern Australia only to be ingested by a huge saltie.

Co-incidentally, Steve and Terri are already on the croc’s case, unaware of its valuable stomach contents, having been tasked to relocate the gnarly beast, for its own sake, away from the ranch -- and the 12 gauge – of one Magda Szubanski.

When two ill-suited CIA types land in the tropical north to track the missing hardware, you just know their “Australia is a friendly country, isn’t it?” attitude is going to get them in trouble.

The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course is far from a cinematic masterpiece, but just like on TV, love him or hate him, Steve Irwin is compelling.

I sat through this flick very shortly after its release. The audience was surprisingly small, even for a mid-week showing of a new movie. But, contrary to normal for that size gathering, the atmosphere was none-the-less electric. Everyone (and I must say the average age was on the lower end of the scale) including me, cacked themselves from start to finish.

Even now, a month after the event, I still giggle out loud when the memory of some scene or other pops into my otherwise addled brain.

It wasn’t brilliant and, frankly, some of it could have been done a whole lot better. This comment, however, is directed at characters other than Steve or Terri.

In the main it was a real hoot and by crickey I’d recommend you see it if you haven’t already.
After some recent criticism for giving out five shamrocks week in and week out, I’ll take this opportunity to cut back. Sorry Steve, but in deference to the love-him-or-hate-him relationship you have with the Aussie diaspora, you score a balanced two-and-a-half shamrocks this time.