By Andrew Ross
In the interest of transparency, I shall declare at the outsetthat I like Steve Irwin. I think he’s hilarious, and I find his tv show (co-hosted by his wife, Terri Irwin) extremely entertaining.
Don’t get me wrong though; I agree he’s a complete nut. We’re talking about a man who once went on a trek across Africa with the sole intent of touching the ten most dangerous species of snake on the continent, including the most feared snake in the world: the black mamba. On another occasion, he went diving with 20-foot long tiger sharks in a home-made steel cage with an open top. On second thought, nutty doesn’t even begin to describe the man.
Crazy as he may be, Irwin knows his shit. By my conservative estimate, he would be dead approximately 350 times over by now if he didn’t. His dad taught him how to wrangle crocodiles and snakes barehanded at a tender age, and these rare skills are second nature to him now. Ironically, it’s the lizards and spiders that make him nervous, not the animals that might actually eat him.
In addition to his mad skills, Irwin has manic enthusiasm for what he does. I’ve never seen anyone use as many exclamations as he does, and you can see his eyes light up whenever he starts talking about whichever animal he is currently holding. He has a passion for nature that cannot be faked.
Oh yeah, the movie. Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course is an ideal vehicle for the Irwins to take the audience for a wild ride. The pair have rare chemistry and screen presence, probably because they are essentially being themselves in this film. They go around the outback looking for wild animals, find them, handle them–or in some cases, manhandle them–lecture the audience on the virtues of preservation, and try their damndest not to get killed by the beasts. Basically, it’s like an extended, commercial-free version of the Crocodile Hunter television program, only with a plot (not that anyone cares) and a few fictional characters thrown into the mix. If you have seen the series, you should appreciate the film. And if you don’t have cable, you owe it to yourself to see Terri and Steve-o in action on the big screen.
Don’t agree with this review? Want another perspective? Check out Jeff Kubik’s thoughts on the same fine film.