I think I made a mistake when I watched this film. You see, I didn't view it in the theater, so this DVD version was my first experience to it. I received it at the same time as the first two films, so it seemed reasonable to review them in sequence.

That was my mistake.

Considering that it had been years since I'd watched the first two films, watching this one first might have made it seem a little more fresh. As I mentioned in my review of Crocodile Dundee II, the character of Mick Dundee is essentially a one-trick pony and we've all seen the trick.

The problem is that this film doesn't contain a single gag that wasn't done in the previous films. There are only so many times you can see Mick Dundee be confused by transvestites or thwart muggers and still give a damn.

The film starts out in Australia, where Mick and Sue have been living and raising their son. Mick is frustrated by the fact that Walkabout Creek has turned into a tourist trap, so when Sue is offered the chance to take over her father's Los Angeles branch of the newspaper, he urges her to take the job.

The family moves to LA, where Mick is once again a fish out of water. The problem, of course, is that Mick is supposed to be a bright guy who's been in the big city before, yet we're supposed to believe that it's all new to him - again. We can see all the same old jokes coming a mile away, so they elicit groans rather than laughs.

Other problems plague the film as well. It might, for instance, seem amusing that Mick drives around in a Subaru Outback -- that is, until you realize that this is nothing more than product placement for the car that Paul Hogan already plugs in TV commercials. In fact, when this film hits TV airwaves, it may not need commercial interruption. All of the advertising has been taken care of.

There is also the continuing issue of the lack of romance between the two main characters. As with the first film, I found myself hoping that Hogan's and Kozlowski's off-screen relationship isn't as uninspired as their on-screen one.

Further hampering the film is the problem of the celebrity cameo. When will Hollywood learn that having actors play themselves in film almost never works? Sure, there are exceptions, but more often than not the gimmick comes across as an act of desperation, especially when the point is only to humiliate the actor in question (such as having George Hamilton talk about the virtues of coffee enemas in this film).

As if realizing the fish out of water aspect can only take the story so far, another Hollywood cliché is employed. Shortly after arriving in LA, Sue finds a "big story" in the notion that a new movie studio may be up to no good. Mick offers to go undercover at the studio and we're supposed to laugh at the notion of Crocodile Dundee playing a movie extra.

Still, for all of the problems, the film remains, like the first two, mostly harmless. Hogan has enough charisma and has created a likable enough character that you don't really mind watching him. This is the sort of film you can put in when you have other things to work on. It's not quite bad enough to be unwatchable, but not quite good enough to give your full attention to.