Movie Notes: Fierce Creatures

May 8th, 2008

Movie Notes: Fierce Creatures

starstar = 2 stars

Starring John Cleese, Kevin Kline, Jamie Lee Curtis
Directed by Fred Schepisi

Synopsis

Rollo Lee (John Cleese) manages a zoo which has been taken over by the Rod McCain (Kevin Kline) corporation. Rod dispatches his son Vince (also Kevin Kline) and new employee Willa (Jamie Lee Curtis) to monetize the zoo. The zoo keepers are not pleased with the new focus on crass capitalism.

The Good

  • I enjoyed Rollo’s growing reputation as an insatiable lover, a theme which leads to some amusing situations where he’s completely unaware of Vince and Willa’s interpretation.
  • Kevin Kline does his part, pulling in double duty as a spoiled, cluless son and his uncaring corporate father.
  • Hard to deny the cute appeal of the various animals.

The Bad

  • Cleese and Curtis, for some reason, don’t have the same lusty chemistry as in A Fish Called Wanda.
  • Michael Palin as Adrian ‘Bugsy’ Malone is sadly underutilized. His character gets to rattle off some overly scientific explanations but doesn’t do much else. Perhaps there are too many supporting characters in this one.
  • The film’s final section with some costumes and secret identities isn’t as funny as it should be, probably because Rod McCain is little more than a caricature.

Conclusion

While not exactly a sequel to A Fish Called Wanda, it reunites the same core cast of Kevin Kline, John Cleese, and Jamie Lee Curtis, so I was expecting a similar level of hilarity (I gave A Fish Called Wanda five stars). Unfortunately it fails to gel. Fierce Creatures is only worth a rental if you’re a die-hard Monty Python fan, otherwise - skip it.

IMBD: Fierce Creatures
Wikipedia: Fierce Creatures
Rotten Tomatoes: Fierce Creatures

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