Crocodile Dundee 2
As a movie character and pop culture phenomenon, Paul Hoganās amicable outback bushman was indeed a big deal in the 80s, and this quick sequel to the classic original sets out to give the audience more of the same, with mixed results. Many standard elements of 80s films are here, including drug dealer villains and the use of Iggy Popās āReal Wild Childā on the soundtrack, but the first half of the film, showing Dundee still living in New York with his newfound love (Linda Kozlowski) tends to drag quite a bit while repeating much of the first filmās humor, like having a bunch of kids gather around him and quote one of the first filmās most famous lines, to having the mailman whom Dundee interacts with do an unfunny Nixon impersonation (get over it already). Only the bit with Dundee trying to talk down a jumper about to commit suicide rings fresh, in part because of its hilarious punchline. The plot, as it would be, involves Kozlowskiās ex-husband running afoul of Columbian drug dealers before being murdered, but not before sending her a package containing damning evidence against them which makes her a target. This leads to her being kidnapped and Dundee being told to deliver the package āor elseā (though these bad guys seem pretty lenient about carrying out their threats). As the kingpin, Hechter Ubarry puts on an exercise in smugness more than anything else, and the way he carries himself is straight out of the 80s bad guy handbook. This leads to us seeing Dundee āgo to warā as he actually enlists the aid of a punk rock street gang(!) to storm their mansion with the help of a street hustler friend of his (an early role for Charles āRocā Dutton, whose performance mostly consists of him lowering his shades). Incredibly, despite rescuing his girl in the midst of a mob scene and the cops showing up, the drug dealers escape, leading to the (much better) second half of the film, as our heroes head to Australia to reunite with old friends and plan an offensive against the head-hunting villains (though why the kingpin of a multi-million dollar drug ring would personally go along on such a trip when he can just send his lackeys is a bit much). Nonetheless, watching Dundee make full use of his home field advantage is a joy to see, especially an elegiac shot of him calling his Aboringine friends against a beautiful sunset and also enlisting the help of his buddies Wally (John Meillion, who died shortly after the filmās release) and Donk (Aussie pro wrestling legend Steve Rackman). Indeed, the viewer knows the drug dealing scum are fucked as soon as they step off the plane, and watching them get picked off one by one is the highlight of perhaps the whole series. The film falters a bit by having Kozlowski rush to Dundeeās aid towards the end thinking that sheās gonna āsaveā him, but in the end, the most famous Australian movie character besides Mad Max succeeds in solidifying his legendā¦
7/10