Product: Crocodile Dundee II (1988)
Rating: 3.0
Paul Hogan tries to get more serious for Crocodile Dundee II
"Crocodile Dundee" was a surprise hit in 1986, more on the strength of Paul Hogan's whimsical charm as the title character, an alligator poacher from Down Under who is taken to the big bad city of New York where he does an engaging Innocent Abroad routine. Two years later came the sequel, "Crocodile Dundee II," which tried to sound all of the same notes as the original while reversing the patter--Mick Dundee starts in NYC and then ends up back in Australia at the end of the film--while adding a whole plot line about an evil drug lord. After rescuing Sue (Linda Kozlowski) from the fortress home of the drug lord in NYC, the scene shifts back to Australia when the drug lord decides to take on Mick on his own turf, which may well be one of the ten stupidest things ever done by a bad guy in a movie (it at least deserves a nomination).The strengths of "Crocodile Dundee II" are the same as the original. Hogan has an easy-going charm and his character is nonplussed by any situation in which he finds himself or anybody that he meets. He is the common man with the common touch, even if he is from an uncommon part of the world. The relationship between Mick and Sue seems a bit more real this time around, and there are even signs of some actual chemistry, which might have something to do with the fact that Hogan and Kozlowski were going to end up getting married two years later (instead of making "Crocodile Dundee III" apparently). But the drug plot line is an unnecessary attempt to up the ante (compare it with the mugger/big knife scene from the original), which just leads the film too far astray from what really worked that first time around. Those who really like the original will find this enjoyable enough. But Hogan's "Almost an Angel" is a much better film.