"Crocodile" Dundee II

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Movie - "Crocodile" Dundee II

Year: 1988
Rated: PG
Parental Rating: Cautionary; some scenes objectionable
Country Of Origin: U.S.
Running Time: 110
Format: Color
Genre(s): Adventure; Comedy
Production: Paramount
Released By: Paramount

This sequel to the phenomenally successful "CROCODILE" DUNDEE is a surprisingly shoddy affair that abandons the unabashed romance of its predecessor for a rudimentary action-adventure plot involving guns and drugs. Directed at a stupefyingly sluggish pace, the film begins more or less where the original left off, with Australian title character Hogan living in New York City with his reporter girlfriend Kozlowski. When her ex-husband, a photojournalist, gets into trouble with a vicious Colombian drug kingpin (Ubarry) and is murdered, Hogan and Kozlowski become involved and take the villains on a wild goose chase back to Hogan's home turf, the Australian outback. What was refreshingly charming in the first film is tired and boring here. Hogan, a relaxed screen presence to begin with, is practically catatonic in CROC II, spouting the same quaint phrases and still reacting to every big-city situation like a naive child. The romance between him and Kozlowski--the basis of the first film's success--is given perfunctory treatment and is completely undeveloped. Moreover, Kozlowski's character has disintegrated into a clunky screenwriter's device used to introduce and motivate the absurd action-adventure plot line. Cornell (Hogan's partner and the producer of CROC I) is a dreadful director who seems to understand little more than the fundamentals of moviemaking (like keeping the image in focus). Unable to create a romance and incapable of pacing an action scene, he allows the film to plod along like a dying water buffalo, from its Manhattan opening to its hokey freeze-frame ending. Hogan and son Brett's screenplay is also a lazy piece of work. It is obvious that Hogan, who has said that this is the last "Crocodile Dundee" film, is bored with the character he created and would like to move on to something else. And well he should.

Cast

Paul Hogan: Mick "Crocodile" Dundee

Linda Kozlowski: Sue Charlton

Charles S. Dutton: LeRoy Brown

Hechter Ubarry: Rico

Juan Fernandez: Miguel

John Meillon: Walter Reilly

Gregory Jbara: Young Cop

Ernie Dingo: Charlie

Steve Rackman: Donk

Gerry Skilton: Nugget

Gus Mercurio: Frank