With seething performances by some of Hollywood's greatest and beautiful cinematography, this film is bound to be a front-runner in next year's Oscar race. Oh, wait...that was "Road to Perdition". If you're expecting any of these things from "Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course", you're out of luck. Otherwise, if you're not expecting too much, you may just be surprised at how fun this film actually is.

For those of you who have been living in a cave for the last few years, Australian Steve Irwin is more commonly known as "The Crocodile Hunter", and hosts his own animal show on the cable channel Animal Planet. He tracks down dangerous and interesting animals around the world, and gets viewers up close and personal with many amazing creatures. He's a modern day Jack Hannah, except Irwin is a little off-kilter. His strong Australian accent, along with his witty commentary are what make him fun to watch as he handles venomous snakes and poisonous insects. Apparently, someone in Hollywood figured they could cash in on this personality of the moment, so here he is, along with his wife and a myriad of creatures, in his big screen debut.

The film doesn't wander too far from the formula that makes the television show work, but of course a Hollywood-subplot had to be thrown in. The subplot involves a destroyed United States satellite’s hard drive that's eaten by a (rather large) crocodile when it falls to Earth and happens to land right in front of it's mouth. This (rather large) crocodile has also been eating a (rather large) local rancher's cattle, so even though it's against the law, she's ready to shoot the croc. Well, the CIA wants that hard drive, so they send agents to retrieve it, and they of course get into wacky situations with the (rather large) local rancher.

The rather silly subplot is really just a backdrop to vignettes featuring Steve & his wife Terri as they scour the Australian Outback helping and collecting animals for their zoo. Steve doesn't seem to realize he's in a movie, and continually talks to the camera as he's chasing dangerous snakes and deadly spiders. It's almost as if the movie was interspersed with snippets of the show, and these are what makes the movie worth while, as well as what makes the movie good for kids. Steve discussing a bird-eating spider. Steve wrestles a crocodile so that he and Terri can move it to a less inhabited part of the river. Steve and Terri rescuing a baby kangaroo who's mother was struck by a vehicle. All of these diversions into the animal kingdom go on while Steve thinks the aforementioned CIA agents are poachers coming after the (rather large) crocodile. The two elements blend together rather nicely, but what keeps it together is Irwin's cheeky commentary.

Overall, the film works. With the exception of the stale acting of the CIA agents, Irwin shines doing what he does best. The animals and Irwin's catch phrase "Crikey!" aren't used as overkill, and Irwin himself explains the overall message of the film right to the camera. I didn't know what to expect going into the theater, but I was pleasantly surprised that I walked out having enjoyed the film, and others I've spoken too have echoed the same sentiment. Now if we can just work on those "Crododile Hunter: Collision Course" Oscars...