Mick Dundee returns to form

With this third film Paul Hogan manages to recapture the charm of the original.

In the far north town of Walkabout Creek Mick Dundee - Paul Hogan - is resigned to becoming a tourist attraction. His livelihood has become protected. He just goes through the motions but he's happy enough being Dad to young Mikey - Serge Cockburn, the son of his partner Sue - Linda Kozlowski. But there's an emergency with Sue's newspaper-owning father and Sue feels duty-bound to go to Los Angeles to help out. Mick thinks the big smoke would do young Mikey good and he'll be fine, he conquered New York all those years ago so it becomes a family trip. The Crock's good at undercutting pretension and there's plenty of it where he's going.... oh and then there's the matter of a shady film studio currently filming the second sequel after two bombs. But that's all right, Mick's got everything under control.......With this third in the Crocodile Dundee series of films Paul Hogan manages to recapture the charm of the original. He got a bit cocky in the second film but here he endears himself with his self-knowing laconic humour, the Croc's naive but he's no man`s fool. Just like the man himself this is a film without too many pretensions, director Simon Wincer doesn't load it with business, he lets Hogan stand centre stage which is exactly where we want him. In the acting stakes I thought Alec Wilson who plays Mick's mate Jacko was really solid. Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles isn't a major cinema achievement but it's a real comfort zone of a movie with all the elements that made the original film such a success. Comments from David StrattonFor about the first 15 minutes, this looks promising. The Walkabout Creek scenes are brightly filmed, and the crocodile hunt sequence is quite funny. But the warning signs flash when we see the unbelievably lavish home in which Mick and Sue live with their son. When the action shifts to Los Angeles, the film slips into low gear; the gags are feeble, and the image of a film studio, even a marginal one like this, seems quaintly dated. It's a family friendly film, with its emphasis on animals and a cute little boy, but it just isn't very funny.