FIERCE CREATURES

Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, John Cleese and Michael Palin Directed by Robert Young (last-minute changes by Fred Schepisi) Rated PG-13, with brief violence, profanity and bathroom humor Running time 93 minutes With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a 4

(Jan. 23, 1997) -- The Fish Called Wanda gang has reunited for another go-round, but the results pale in comparison to that memorable 1988 comedy.

Fierce Creatures is not a sequel to Wanda. This time the two Yanks (Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline) and the two Brits (John Cleese and Michael Palin) play different characters in a new saga, once again co-written by Cleese.

And by putting the four ingredients into a new experiment, the chemistry is not nearly as explosive. Or funny. Sure, these actors are too talented to allow themselves to be totally wasted -- so laughs are to be found. But the hilarity isn't consistent enough to label the film a success.

In Fierce Creatures, the four are entangled in controversy at a British zoo, recently purchased by a Murdocklike media mogul in search of big profits. The greedy, gray-haired mogul, Rod ("as in God") McCain, is played by Kline, who also plays McCain's shallow and inept son, Vince. As the film opens. McCain has decided to send a new hire, the sexy, ambitious Willa Weston (Curtis), to run the zoo. Vince wangles an opportunity to join her there as a marketing director, though he's more interested in selling himself to Willa.

Already in place at the zoo is a director, Rollo Lee (Cleese), who is trying his best to adhere to McCain's new profit-margin ideas. One idea is to populate the zoo strictly with fierce animals, since the public loves violence. Much of the film's early humor revolves around efforts of the frustrated zoo keepers to make the institution's more docile creatures seem fierce.

Chief among those zoo keepers is Bugsy Malone (Palin), so named because he cares for insects, including a tarantula he keeps in his jacket pocket. When the Yanks arrive, the marketing of the zoo truly gets silly. Vince McCain sells product placement for just about every creature in the place -- a turtle advertises Bruce Springsteen CDs, a tiger pitches vodka, etc. He also installs a panda in a cage, which pleasantly surprises the zoo keepers until they discover it's an animatronic robot.

Cleese and company keep intensifying the craziness, mixing in romantic entanglements as Vince and Rollo compete for Willa's affections, and adding pressure with an impending visit by the profit-obsessed Rod McCain.

This would all seem to be fertile ground for rich comedy, but the line between hilarious farce and tiresome silliness is fine. (You could nicely define that difference by screening A Fish Called Wanda and Fierce Creatures in tandem.)

It's hard to pinpoint how good chemistry turns sour; it has to do with the writing, the timing and the editing, and all three elements are less impressive here. The film is quite funny in fits and starts, but doesn't maintain its intensity.

A comedy is also in trouble if it leans on more than a few flatulence and breast jokes -- and Fierce Creatures does. The film largely directed by Robert Young, (a British filmmaker, not to be confused with American independent director, Robert M. Young). However, when early audience previews caused restlessness, highly regarded director Fred Schepisi was recruited to shoot a new ending.

Presumably, it helped; but not enough. These Fierce Creatures still don't have much bite.