Over a decade ago, the two Crocodile Dundee movies grossed an obscene amount of money. The new millennium brings forth Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles, a film that picks up right where the first two left off. In the meantime, genial, good-natured comedies like this lose out in favor of bottom-scraping fare. Part of what makes this new installment unpalatable is a lack of forward momentum. If Paul Hogan (Flipper, Floating Away) released this movie right after Crocodile Dundee II, there would be no noticeable difference. Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles feels old on arrival. The story is basically the same, except this time Mick Dundee travels to Los Angeles. He lives with Sue Charlton (Linda Kozlowski, Village of the Damned, Backstreet Justice) and their young son Mikey (Serge Cockburn). Sue needs to go back to the United States to work temporarily for her father's newspaper, and Mick and Mikey go along with her.

Sue is investigating the financials of a new movie studio, and Mick goes undercover at the studio to help her. This lets director Simon Wincer (The Phantom, Operation Dumbo Drop) and writers Hogan, Matthew Berry, and Eric Abrams attempt to poke fun at many Hollywood conventions. The jokes are old and familiar, and the laborious set-ups are obvious, yielding only a few laughs. Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles ends up looking like a vacation video for Southern California. Mick and Mickey see the sights, and confuse themselves with all these American things. Mick is as clueless as ever, and this is where the movie falls apart. Wincer cannot Mick consistent. Mick knows about cell phones and cameras over intersections, but is not familiar with valet parking drive-though windows. He is savvy enough to know about NYPD Blue and The Rock, but has no clue who Mel Gibson and Tom Cruise are. Mick's wide-eyed innocence can only go so far, and the script shatters this. He is at a point beyond charming, he is just in idiot.

If not for the blandness of the entire movie, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles would be a refreshing change from today's potty humor. But the lack of originality and humor sink this latest installment. Hogan is just going through the motions. The story trots along at a brisk rate, merely biding time before the inevitable end when Mick triumphs. This movie just proves that this franchise is now obsolete. At one point, Hogan vowed not to resurrect his alter ego, but something changed his mind. No offense to Hogan, but he must be nearly as clueless at Mick to write some of the jokes here. The movie ends with Down Under by Men at Work. This is as big a sign of the relevance of the movie as anything else.