Review of Fierce Creatures (1997) by Alex C — 21 Mar 2007

This isn't a bad movie. It's just not as good as [i]A Fish Called Wanda[/i], for which, believe it or not, Kevin Kline won an Oscar. He's not as good in this, even though he is playing two roles (three, apparently, if you include a bit in one of the deleted scenes). I'm glad they got the cast back together. I just wish they could've done it for a better film.

It's also more than a little disconcerting to see Jamie Ross in her underwear in a closet with John Cleese. I can't help wondering if Jack knows what she's wearing under those suits. And boy, if her ex-husband found out about it, she'd [i]really[/i] lose custody of her daughter. Or have I just watched too much [i]Law & Order[/i]?

Kevin Kline's faux Rupert Murdoch's certainly amusing. I definitely believe that the real one would love to air Chinese executions worldwide via satellite. My Gods, can you imagine the ratings? And definitely he'd live forever if he could, and certainly most of what he touches turns to poo. However, I assume he'd've come up with the "fierce creatures" policy on his own.

Interestingly, I think one of the most interesting things in the movie is the valid psychological point made by Michael Palin's Bugsy (whose tarantula is named Terry, after Terry Gilliam). He's quite right. Tarantulas aren't terribly threatening to humans. We just think they are. However, that projection means we'd certainly expect to see them in a display of fierce animals, even though they can't kill a human--and mosquitoes, which kill more humans every year than people realize, aren't thought of as fierce at all. So which, after all, is the fierce creature?