Fierce Creatures

source: Fierce Creatures

Fierce Creatures

Bafflingly awful. Even with the considerable talents involved it would be hard to imagine the makers of this piece of garbage doing any worse, even if they were trying. Frightening.

Rollo is the director of a London zoo which is not making enough money for billionaire Rod McCain, who doesn't need the money but doesn't care. His idea is to get rid of all animals that are not "fierce creatures" because the less dangerous animals don't produce enough revenue. The zoo employees try in vain to persuade Rollo that some of the animals are in fact fierce, but it doesn't work. Rollo's solution turns out to be quite hilarious, and not as demented as it might seem. But Rod is not happy with the job Rollo is doing, and he sends Vince and Willa to make improvements. With hilarious results. The zoo employees look like NASCAR drivers and every exhibit appears to have a sponsor. Add to that a naughty sense of humor. For example, while Rollo is hiding some of the less desirable animals in his sleeping quarters, Willa (on the phone) thinks he has numerous women with him. Plenty of other evidence of Rollo's supposed womanizing gets him in even more trouble. And then there is the time the woman falls down steps and needs an ambulance. One has to forget the concern that might be felt for characters in pain in most movies or TV shows, and just enjoy the moment. John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis both do fine jobs here. Cleese has an insane sense of humor, though his consideration for others lacks the outrageousness of Basil Fawlty. That's probably a good thing; Kevin Klines's two characters do enough of that sort of thing. Curtis does her best work when not even saying a word, making expert use of facial expressions. Plus she has a hot body and shows it off in tight and often revealing outfits. I don't think I'd recommend this for children. But it might appeal to the Monty Python fans.

I don't think I lasted even half an hour with this thing. It was painfully unfunny. I didn't really expect it to match up to Wanda, but I couldn't have possibly imagined that Cleese and Palin could be involved in anything this awful. The script was appalling. Cleese must have spent all of twenty minutes on it. Wasn't he concerned about putting his name to such rubbish? The Australian accents were reasonable approximations. Pity the characters were supposed to be New Zealanders. Finally, Ronnie Bloody Corbett.

I was looking forward to seeing this movie when i saw a preview on one of the film revues on TV. I didn't really enjoy "A Fish Called Wanda" mostly because of the total lack of scenes between Cleese's character and Michael Palin's. Then I saw this rather disappointing followup and must say that "Wanda" looks like pure art in comparison. Like in the former, Kevin Kline plays an obnoxious, idiotic character, but here he simply drowns the film with temper tantrums. In "Wanda" he was simply clueless but he annoyed me immensely with his insane laughter and his voice sounds like a parrot (how ironic) through most of the film. As for Palin and Cleese, they do have a number of scenes together but they don't really generate laughs. They simply consist of Palin going on and on with his boring ramblings and Cleese trying to shut him up. Jamie Lee Curtis is not given much to do except look sexy which she of course does, but it's a shame that she couldn't have reminded us that she is also quite funny (look at her in True Lies). Here she simply falls for Cleese without much convincing just because he is there. She is not even the most gorgeous of the actresses in the movie when compared to former Bond-Girl, Carey Lowell. The most funny thing in the movie is the scenes where Cleese talks to the animals and that it is mistaken for Cleese having several women in his room and that is not much to recommend seeing it. It's a shame that Cleese have squandered his talent in rather mediocre roles. Just look at his rather embarrassing cameo in the Eric Idle comedy "Splitting Heirs". It's a blessing that we still have memories of his glory days of Python and Fawlty Towers.

Willa Weston (Jamie Lee Curtis) is the new executive in Octopus Inc. run by Rod McCain (Kevin Kline). She joins with Rod's son Vince (Kevin Kline) to manage the newly acquired zoo. Rollo Lee (John Cleese) starts out as the director sent by Octopus to raise profit margin to 20%. His idea is to have only fierce creatures. The shocked zookeepers dare Rollo to kill some of the non-fierce creatures. He pretends to and instead keeps the animals at his place. Willa and Vince mistakenly thinks that Rollo is a ladies man. After an incident, Rollo is demoted. Willa is still fascinated by Rollo's supposed womanizing and Vince has even crazier ideas for the zoo. This is a real disappointment and a giant step down from the same crew that made 'A Fish Called Wanda'. It's a lot of wackiness without being funny. The story is completely stupid without being funny. The characters are all crazy without being funny. It's like the gang decided to pile on wacky things on top of wacky things. But none of it is funny. If it has any chance, the movie should have started in the zoo. The opening at the corporate office is a waste of time that achieved nothing.

It's no good saying "Don't compare it to Wanda" - the makers rode on Wanda's coat-tails for publicity and there's an in-joke about it at the end between Cleese and Curtis. Also, some scenes are virtual remakes of others from Wanda (Cleese caught in state of undress! My aching sides.) Even without its brilliant predecessor, this movie stinks on ice. If you find silly animal costumes, "flustered man sex jokes" ("Titsbits! I mean tidbits!" - repeat ad nauseam), repeated shots of JLC's cleavage (not on as good form as in Wanda, it has to be said) and fart gags entertaining then hallelujah! You've found your ultimate movie. For my part, I find all of the above tedious, hence my antipathy towards this movie. Cleese does his Fawlty schtick AGAIN ("SORRY!!" "WHAT?!?" etc), Palin does the same routine he's been doing throughout Python, Life Of Brian, Wanda etc. Kline is almost always funny, but even he labours in this. He gets marks for his "suicidal" line towards the end, but he seems in a state of panic throughout. The recurring theme of Cleese being caught in compromising positions and as a result being thought a sex-maniac was old when the Carry On team did it to death in the Seventies. Similarly in Barbara Windsor territory were Curtis' lines in front of the Lemur cage - "Aren't they beautiful? Don't you just want to fondle them?" - while Cleese gurns like Sid James eating a nettle. We're entitled to expect better from these people. Avoid.

When a old farting heartless corporate mogul (Oscar-Winner:Kevin Kline) takes over a failing Zoo. The mogul is hoping to make money out of it by hiring a new Zoo director (John Clesse) by making the animals fiercer under the supervision of a bright business woman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and the dumb mogul's son (Played by Kline also). The new Zoo director has to deal with a resentful staff and other complications. Directed by Robert Young (Splitting Heirs) and Fred Schepisi (Mr. Baseball, Roxanne, Six Digress of Separation) made an uneven but entertaining fitfully comedy that doesn't quite pays off as it should but it is Kline's comedic dual performance comes off best. The sexual tension between Clesse and Curtis is quite funny also. The film was originally filmed in 1995 by Young and then largely re-filmed by Schepisi. Then they edited Young's and Schepisi's version together into one film. Clesse, Curtis, Kline, Michael Palin, Maria Aitken and Cynthia Clesse. Which the six actors are in this film, also were together before in the instant classic comedy "A Fish Called Wanda". Panavision. (****/*****).

"Fierce Creatures" was marketed as a somewhat adventurous endeavour in teaming up much of the old team from the highly acclaimed "A Fish called Wanda" to do another film that was completely different and had nothing the same, except much of the cast. Does this have the same sparkle? The short answer is no, but it is still good viewing. It tells the story of a highly greedy and successful business magnate, Rod McCain (Kevin Kline) who has just taken over a zoo in England. However, business regulations require that the zoo return 20% of revenue or it will be shut down. Put in charge is Rollo Lee (John Cleese), who is then somewhat overthrown by new recruit Willa Weston (Jamie Lee Curtis) and McCain's 'idiot' son Vince (also Kline). Essentially the film deals with the three of the new directors and their different schemes for making money and raising the revenue to 20%, but with plenty of sexual tension and comedies of error along the way. It's a lot of fun, I think I've made that clear. It's by no means the best comedy put on film but it has a lot of the same laughs as a normal Cleese-written comedy; in some ways the character of Rollo Lee is very much like the character of Basil Fawlty. Kline is brilliantly hilarious as usual, he's the standout, while Curtis, Michael Palin, Robert Lindsay and Ronnie Corbett all give spirited performances. It's also nice for an Aussie to see Bille Brown making his big screen debut as the terrible right-hand man Neville. Overall, it's an above average piece of writing, directing and performing that gives you a laugh. Perfect for a night in. 3 1/2 stars out of 5.