Fierce Creatures ** (1997, John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin) – Classic Movie Review 7699

The stars of the 1988 comedy triumph A Fish Called Wanda, John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline and Michael Palin, return for another amiable, though much less amusing farcical black comedy, directors Robert Young and Fred Schepisi’s 1997 Fierce Creatures.

The outrageous tale in the screenplay by John Cleese and Iain Johnstone begins when ruthless Australian mogul Rod McCain (Kline) acquires England’s quaint, quiet little (fictional) Marwood Zoo. Determined to transform it into a money-making attraction, he sends his sexy marketing executive Willa Weston (Curtis) and his lecherous son Vince (also Kline) to whip the place into shape.

But they find the zoo’s straight-laced director Rollo Lee (Cleese) has already implemented his own harebrained scheme to boost admissions: from now on the zoo will do away with cute, cuddly animals and display only fierce creatures. The outraged zookeepers, led by insect expert Bugsy Malone (Palin), launch a riotous revolt to save one of their furry friends.

An apparently troubled production, with much rewriting and re-shooting by second director Schepisi after poor preview reaction in America, has resulted in a bit of a flop for the quartet this time. However, there are some genial laughs amid the strained comedy, and the stars are always welcome, doing their level best to raise guffaws.

Also in the cast are Ronnie Corbett, Robert Lindsay, Carey Lowell, Bille Brown, Derek Griffiths, Cynthia Cleese, Richard Ridings and Maria Aitken.

Fierce Creatures is directed by Robert Young and Fred Schepisi, runs 93 minutes, is made by Universal Pictures, Fish Productions and Jersey Films, is released by Universal, is written by John Cleese and Iain Johnstone, is shot by Adrian Biddle and Ian Baker, is produced by John Cleese and Michael Shamberg, and is scored by Jerry Goldsmith.

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7699

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The stars of the 1988 comedy triumph A Fish Called Wanda.

Michael Palin in A Fish Called Wanda.