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Parents' Guide to

Fierce Creatures

By Carrie R. Wheadon, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Some funny moments peppered with lots of sexual innuendo.

Movie PG-13 1997 93 minutes
Fierce Creatures Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 11+

Based on 1 parent review

Rel17
Rel17 Parent of 7, 11 and 13-year-old
August 23, 2020
age 11+

A comedy, typical of its time.

There are a lot of sexual innuendos and this film is typical of the time in being quite titillating e.g. lots of men gawping at a bikini-clad swimmer and the implication of having sexual relations in order to progress. There is also implied reference to beastiality. There is one scene where it is implied that someone has shot lots of cute animals which may upset sensitive children. There is also an implied suicide, which is made out to be humorous. However my young teenaged children enjoyed the film and found it hugely entertaining that you might try and portray cute friendly animals as vicious or use animals to advertise products!
See all 1 parent review

What's the Story?

After billionaire mogul Rod McCain (Kevin Kline) acquires a zoo, he sends corporate lackey Rollo Lee (John Cleese) to make it 20 percent more profitable or he'll close it down. But Rollo makes some rather public missteps and Willa Weston (Jamie Lee Curtis) is sent in to help. Unfortunately for her, the boss' son Vince McCain (also Kevin Kline) tags along. He's determined to show his father how worthy he is to inherit those billions by dressing the staff as animals and taking on dozens of sponsorships -- even the lion gets dressed in a banner ad that says "Absolut Fierce." He's also determined to win over Willa, but suddenly she's both interested in protecting the animals and starting to have feelings for Rollo as well.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: (1 ):
Kids say: Not yet rated

A couple of Monty Python alums thought up the funny premise of cuddly creatures needing to take on fierce alter-egos to bring in zoo visitors, and that 10 minutes of the movie is downright hilarious. Also pretty funny: Rollo faking the deaths of the animals to look authoritative, and the tacky things Vince does to the zoo in the name of profits (especially the lion dressed up in an "Absolut Fierce" banner). It goes downhill from there pretty fast.

The father-son mogul storyline is given way too much weight, all the sexual innuendo gets pretty tired, and Vince's sexual harassment is much creepier than it is funny. It's great to see the cast of A Fish Called Wanda reunite, but it should have been for a much smarter script. In this digital era, they could have released the 10 minutes of hilarity on the web and left the rest on the cutting room floor.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the idea that violence sells. Do you like the cuddly animals as much as the fierce ones? What shows get the most hype on Animal Planet?

  • What about all the sponsorships at the zoo? Do you notice them at your zoo, or at the baseball stadium? Where are they the most plentiful?

  • What are your favorite comedies, and how do you decide which ones to watch? Do you look for funny actors, like John Cleese, or story lines that sound funny?

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