Fierce Creatures

Not a sequel, but a belated reunion for Cleese and his co-stars from A Fish Called Wanda, and as strained as such occasions tend to be. The set-up's silly. Rollo Lee (Cleese) runs a small British zoo, a surprisingly prominent blip on Aussie tycoon Rod McCain's plans for global conglomeration. Obsessed with profit margins, Rollo decides only dangerous animals pay - the rest will have to go. The staff are appalled, but things get even worse when McCain (Kline) drafts in corporate hotshot Willa (Curtis) and his no-good son Vince (Kline again), who embark on a crass sponsorship scheme. There's some funny business with the zoo-keepers pretending that meerkats are the most vicious beasts on four legs, and Cleese briefly reminds us of Python's cutting edge when he dispatches a handful of the cutest creatures with a shotgun, but the movie soon settles for dismally obvious running gags about bestiality, Curtis's body, and Cleese's sexual charisma. Just about musters enough laughs to cover up the cracks.