Fierce Creatures (1997) starring John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay, Ronnie Corbett, Derek Griffiths, Cynthia Cleese directed by Fred Schepisi, Robert Young Movie Review

Fierce Creatures (1997)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis in Fierce Creatures (1997)

It's Fierce, it has Palin and McCain

Not only does "Fierce Creatures" see John Cleese, Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline reunited it is also basically the same as "A Fish Called Wanda". What I mean by that is that we have Cleese, Plain, Curtis and Kline playing very similar characters, Cleese is the stiff one, Palin is the geeky one, Curtis the sexy one and Kline the over the top American. We even have similar scenes as Kline's character has a thing for Curtis's whilst she has a thing for Cleese. And so whilst we have a different storyline surrounding Marwood Zoo and corporate conglomerate, Octopus Inc. planning to close it what we watch, the interactions is similar. But whilst similar and frankly not as clever as "A Fish Called Wanda", "Fierce Creatures" is still great fun.

Corporate conglomerate, Octopus Inc. have taken over Marwood Zoo and installed Rollo Lee (John Cleese - Silverado) to make it turn a 20% profit which he plans to do by removing all the cuddly creatures and only keeping the fierce ones much to the horror of the zookeepers. Octopus employee Willa Weston (Jamie Lee Curtis - Mother's Boys) and Vince (Kevin Kline), the son of ruthless CEO Rod McCain (Kevin Kline), head to England to take over from Rollo with Vince planning to have the zoo and animals sponsored by celebrities to make money, money which he plans to pocket himself.

Michael Palin, Derek Griffiths and Robert Lindsay in Fierce Creatures (1997)

So the good thing about "Fierce Creatures" is that whilst we have Cleese, Palin, Curtis and Kline returning to play similar characters we have a different storyline as Marwood Zoo faces closure thanks to corporate conglomerate, Octopus Inc. It's a fun storyline because it has different things going on starting with Rollo Lee's plans to get rid of all the cuddly animals and just keep the fierce ones as fierce creatures will attract customers, leading to the staff trying to make out that the cuddly creatures are also dangerous. This then leads to the arrival of Willa Weston and Vince McCain who try and run the zoo with Vince wanting to have the animals sponsored by celebrities. It's daft and the daftness continues as the story sort of twists itself to an amusing ending but it is also very simple to follow.

That means that "Fierce Creatures" is all about the humour and that comes in various shapes and forms. We have Vince fancying Willa who in turn fancies Rollo who they both think is a bit of a stud as confusion during phone calls makes them think he has several women in his room at one time. Then you have the humour of the zookeepers trying to make out cuddly animals are dangerous whilst Vince pushes for sponsorship details which mean the zoo is littered with bright advertising. Plus there is the relationship between Vince and his dad as well as Rollo getting flustered and his words mixed up when Willa flirts with him. There is not much intelligence to it but it is all good fun partly down to so many well known British actors such as Ronnie Corbett, Robert Lindsay and Derek Griffiths who play the zookeepers.

But in many ways "Fierce Creatures" is more about just having John Cleese, Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline reunited because they worked so well together before. The proof of this is that whilst we have a different storyline they are playing similar characters from Cleese being stiff to Palin being geeky and of course Curtis being sexy. And it does work because it is funny when Rollo gets all flustered as Willa flirts with him and Kevin Kline's over the top antics be it as Vince or when he is playing his own dad Rod are just as much fun. And whilst Michael Palin seems to have less to do his nerdiness and incessant talking as Bugsy is funny.

What this all boils down to is that "Fierce Creatures" is a fun movie thanks to having John Cleese, Michael Palin, Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline reunited. But it does lack the truly funny and clever storyline which they had in "A Fish Called Wanda".


LATEST REVIEWS