There's something inherently appealing about a human being as sincerely enthusiastic and as questionably insane as Steve Irwin. As host of the Animal Planet cable network's "The Crocodile Hunter," Australian animal lover Irwin has braved various and sundry deadly creatures the world over, often in the name of animal rescue but just as often merely for the sake of showing how dangerous these animals are.
It's been a successful formula: Irwin's earnest affection for the animal world and his unflinching willingness to wrestle things with very sharp teeth have made the show a bona fide hit.
The feature film version of Irwin's adventures, "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course," doesn't stray far from the television show. Steve and Terri, along with faithful dog Sue, traverse the Outback rescuing animals from themselves and the human opposition they come against.
In the interest of ushering along "nature's way," Steve obliviously manhandles giant snakes, fist-sized spiders, and any and all animal droppings he comes across. Simultaneously ranting about poachers and irresponsible humans while enthusing about how educational lizard droppings are, the Irwins' tangles with the fauna of Australia is at least as entertaining as the TV show.
{INSERT_RELATED}Interspersed with the animal rescue segments are the plot elements of the film. A trio of CIA agents track a downed satellite beacon containing secrets of the world's governments to Australia, and a portly Outback rancher sets out to defeat a crocodile that's been eating her cattle. In true sitcom fashion, these two stories intersect with each other and the Irwins' mission in a series of coincidences and misunderstandings.
The plot is almost a formality, a framework to give Steve and Terri's brazen animal encounters a practical sense of cohesion. Like everything else, the government agents and the gruff rancher are played for laughs; the world of the Crocodile Hunter isn't a safe one but it certainly isn't a serious one.
"The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" is a broad family comedy with little intention of delivering anything but good clean fun and a basic pro-nature message, and isn't really built for intense critical scrutiny. It's a briskly paced, all-ages farce where the strongest expletives are "poo," "Crikey!," and "Oh, Sugar!"
Low on angst and high on fanged things and fart jokes, "Collision Course" has Irwin's campy, spastic charm to run on, and for a movie with such admirably small ambitions as this one, it's enough.
"The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course" is now showing at theaters everywhere.
