Fierce Creatures (1997)

Zookeepers struggle to deal with the policies of changing directors.

Directors:

Fred Schepisi, Robert Young

Writers:

John Cleese, Iain Johnstone,

Stars:

John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Cleese	...	Rollo Lee
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Willa Weston
Kevin Kline	...	Vince McCain / Rod McCain
Robert Lindsay	...	Sydney Lotterby
Michael Palin	...	Adrian 'Bugsy' Malone
Ronnie Corbett	...	Reggie Sea Lions
Carey Lowell	...	Cub Felines
Bille Brown	...	Neville
Derek Griffiths	...	Garry Ungulates
Cynthia Cleese	...	Pip Small Mammals
Richard Ridings	...	Hugh Primates
Maria Aitken	...	Di Harding
Michael Percival	...	Ant Keeper
Fred Evans	...	Flamingo Keeper
Lisa Hogan	...	Sea lion Keeper

Storyline

A massive corporate conglomerate, Octopus Inc., run by a shrewd and cruel tycoon named Rod McCain, purchases a UK-based leisure company, and also the failing London Marwood Zoo. To bring more business to the zoo, Octopus hires a new manager, Rollo Lee, who promptly comes up with a way to increase profits-do away with all the animals except for the ferocious ones. This new Fierce Creatures Policy shocks the Marwood zookeepers, led by the unendingly talkative Adrian "Bugsy" Malone. Eventually, Rod McCain's son Vince, along with the up-and-coming business executive Willa Weston, take control of the zoo and revoke the Fierce Creatures Policy. Vince instead comes up with many under-handed and vicious schemes to attract customers-unauthorized celebrity endorsements, shoddy, overpriced zoo merchandise, and using robotic animals instead of real ones. However, Vince is also stealing from the zoo's funds, and when his father finds out, he rears to turn the zoo into a Japanese-owned golf course....

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Plot Keywords:

zoo | animal | gorilla | cult movie cast | satin blouse | 

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Taglines:

Don't pet them.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sexual innuendo and language

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Death Fish II

Filming Locations:

England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$3,759,480 (USA) (24 January 1997)

Gross:

ITL 856,578,000 (Italy) (28 March 1997)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fish Productions, Jersey Films, Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

93 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby SR DTS-Stereo

Color:

Color (Rankcolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

In this film's final scene, Rollo mixes up the name of Jamie Lee Curtis' character, calling Willa Wanda once - a reference to the earlier film, and perhaps specifically to a scene in that film where Cleese's character mixed up Wanda's name with his wife Wendy's and called Wendy Wanda.

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Goofs

The foam in Vince's champagne glass when he pours it and drinks it.

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Quotes

[Rollo plans to keep only fierce animals in the zoo and get rid of the rest. Lotterby is trying to make Rollo think that meerkats are fierce so they don't get thrown out]
Rollo Lee: No one's ever been attacked by one of those, Lotterby, or if they have been, they never noticed.

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Crazy Credits

No animals were injured during the making of this movie, only humans.

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Connections

Referenced in Siskel & Ebert: Men in Black/Wild America/Out to Sea (1997)

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Soundtracks

"Hungry Heart"
Written by Bruce Springsteen

User Reviews

Lots of harmless fun

"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.