Feature Review | The Crocodile Hunter : Collision Course
Written by: Brian Orndorf

Rated: 8/10     

Enjoying Collision Course boils down to one simple thing: can you stand Steve Irwin? The nuclear-powered animal preservationist who has spent the last decade burning up the ratings with his television show, Irwin finally brings his trademarked schtick to the big screen. A low-tech, but unpretentiously entertaining romp, Collision Course might not win any awards, but its one of the few films that doesn't jab itself down your throat.

Now, there is a story to Collision Course, but I couldn't tell you precisely what it was. Its a loosely hung narrative about a government satellite thingy that's fallen to Earth in Australia, and into the waiting mouth of a crocodile. Some American agents want to retrieve it, while the natives don't take kindly to their trespassing. Some double-crossing occurs, along with a running joke about a pack of violent dogs chasing everybody. But stuck in the middle of all this story are Steve and Terri Irwin. Running around the outback, filming their show, the married team are called in to relocate the much-desired croc, and in the process, they get caught up in all the confusion.

Having enjoyed Steve's tomfoolery for years now, Collision Course is about the furthest thing from a stretch a movie can get for an actor. But to call Steve an actor is a stretch indeed. Divided into two parts, one being the story, and the other being Steve and Terri running around checking out animals, Collision Course isn't the colossal cinema debut people might be expecting. Half the movie plays exactly like the television show, and the other half hardly registers a pulse. But because Steve is such a gargantuan personality, and because he's also one of the few preservationists who seems to really care about the animals (that borderline psycho Jack Hanna being another one), the film is a breeze to watch. Hardly strenuous filmgoing, but fascinating, charming, often hilarious, and delightfully simplistic in its ambitions.

Its so good-natured that I'm even willing to forgive the flatulence and poo humor that the film sometimes resorts too. The message is clear: animals are not monsters, and Collision Course hardly ever stumbles from this simple goal. Its fun to watch Steve playing up the hero aspects of the film as if he were in Raiders Of The Lost Ark, but he and director John Stainton know the limitations when it comes to the real acting (with Terri utterly wooden). The film doesn't tax Steve's dramatic side too much. This frees him up for another round of chasing after spiders, snakes, and of course, crocodiles. I wouldn't have it any other way.