It's obvious that Steve Irwin, the Aussie who's best known as The Crocodile Hunter, loves his occupation and the thrills that accompany it. In return, it's hard not to get caught up in his enthusiasm for such delights as wrangling crocodiles and dangling dangerous critters only inches from his face while marveling at their deadliness. (For example, he proudly shows off a huge snake whose bite contains enough venom to kill himself "and a hundred other blokes.") It is his vivacity that keeps afloat his motion picture debut, "The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course," which is essentially a mock Discovery Channel special couched in an insignificant espionage plot. A U.S. satellite breaks apart after exploding in space, and its black box comes hurtling back into the atmosphere. It lands smack somewhere in Australia, where it's promptly swallowed by you guessed it a crocodile. This croc lives in a river near land owned by a portly, ill-tempered farmer (Magda Szubanski, best known as Mrs. Hoggatt from "Babe"), who steadfastly has the creature in the crosshairs of her double-barreled shotgun. Meanwhile, after recently popping up in the excellent "The Bourne Identity," the CIA rears its head to once again chase the film's centerpiece, in this case by dispatching two bumbling agents Down Under to retrieve the missing component. As if viewers will have a hard time discerning between the two, Irwin's antics are shot on video (resulting in a smaller screen ratio), and the plot in standard 35mm. They're two totally different entities that are awkwardly grafted together for a lethargic climax. Aside from Irwin and Szubanski, the acting is a sinker. The CIA characters mail in their thankless performances, and while Irwin makes up for his lack of acting experience with spontaneous charisma, the same unfortunately can't be said for his wife/partner, Terri, whose poor delivery of scripted dialogue is flat and emotionless. However, these many flaws are forgivable, after taking into account some of the junk that's composed one of the most forgettable summer movie seasons of recent memory. "Crocodile Hunter" is enjoyable and at times very informative, but the flat plot and acting simply take the wind out of its sails and it's our eponymous protagonist who prevents it from sinking into the muck altogether. 7/10