History Film / FierceCreatures

* TisOnlyABulletInTheBrain: PlayedForLaughs. [[spoiler:Rod]] takes a bullet [[BoomHeadshot right between the eyes]], but stays alive and cogent just long enough to tell the shooter, ''"you're fired", before expiring. Followed by this exchange:

* VerbalBackspace: Rollo loses it and gives his zoo's employees a scathing critique of their new corporate owner... then notices one of that corporation's representatives right behind him:

--->'''Rollo:''' Oh, great. Terrific. He decides to keep the zoo open, so you kill him. Brilliant. Well done. Thank you so much, especially for shooting him ''[[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace right between the eyes]]'' so that it doesn't look like an accident]]. Because the people at Octopus will know he was coming here to close us down. So there's our motive for murdering him. Stunning. Well, Mr. Brain of Britain, what are we going to tell the police who are, of course, already on their way here? Another example of the thoroughness of your plan. Go on. I'm all ears.

--->'''Rollo:''' Oh, great. Terrific. He decides to keep the zoo open, so you kill him. Brilliant. Well done. Thank you so much, especially for [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace shooting him ''right between the eyes'' so that it doesn't look like an accident]]. Because the people at Octopus will know he was coming here to close us down. So there's our motive for murdering him. Stunning. Well, Mr. Brain of Britain, what are we going to tell the police who are, of course, already on their way here? Another example of the thoroughness of your plan. Go on. I'm all ears.

* PunctuatedPounding: Vince indulges in this while [[DesecratingTheDead pummeling his father's corpse]].
-->'''Vince''': ''[Overjoyed]'' You're dead! You're dead! You're dead, you BIG- ''[Punch!]'' FAT- ''[Punch!]'' BASTARD!

* AllThereInTheManual: The novelisation reveals that Rollo is the brother of Archie from ''Film/AFishCalledWanda''.

* CorruptCorporateExecutive: While he's doing anything ''illegal'', Rod is a predatory businessman who debases every business he acquires in the name of pure profit.

* DoWrongRight: Discussed. Vince 'warns' Willa that people might fear she's [[SleepingTheirWayToTheTop sleeping her way to the top]]. Willa replies "as long as they don't think I'm sleeping my way to the middle".

* PunctuatedForEmphasis: Vince indulges in this while [[DesecratingTheDead pummelling his father's corpse]].
-->'''Vince''': ''[Overjoyed]'' You're dead! You're dead! You're dead, you BIG! ''[Punch!]'' FAT! ''[Punch!]'' BASTARD!

* PandaingToTheAudience: A robot panda is imported to the zoo and presented as the real thing.

''Fierce Creatures'' (1997) is a SpiritualSuccessor to ''Film/AFishCalledWanda'', starring the four main players from the earlier film: Creator/JohnCleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Creator/KevinKline, and Creator/MichaelPalin. The movie was written by John Cleese and directed by Fred Schepisi and Robert Young.

-->'''Ned:''' Beijing called. We've got [[GoneHorriblyWrong the television rights to their public executions]].\\

'''Ned:''' Five guys a week, guaranteed!\\

** Furthermore, the character of Bugsy has the same accent and manner of rambling on, whether or not anybody is listening, of the character Mr. Pither, also from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''.

* VerbalBackspace: Rollo loses it and gives his zoo's employees a scathing critique of their new corporate owner... then notices one of that corporation's representative right behind him:

* EpicFail: Bugsy accidentally killing Rod. Not so much the fact he shot him, but the fact that by shooting him, he doomed his comrades to very swift life imprisonment. Not to mention, Rod had decided to keep the zoo open, mere seconds beforehand. Rollo points out how thoroughly [[OhCrap they're all screwed]] in a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tirade]] [[SarcasmMode dripping with sarcasm]].
-->'''Rollo:''' Oh, great. Terrific. He decides to keep the zoo open, so you kill him. Brilliant. Well done. Thank you so much, especially for [[IJustShotMarvinInTheFace shooting him right between the eyes so that it doesn't look like an accident]]. Because the people at Octopus will know he was coming here to close us down. So there's our motive for murdering him. Stunning. Well, Mr. Brain of Britain, what are we going to tell the police who are, of course, already on their way here? Another example of the thoroughness of your plan. Go on. I'm all ears. What do you suggest we do with the dead body of the ''incredibly'' famous man who you have just '''''ASSASSINATED'''''?

-->'''Rollo:''' Oh... well...

* VerbalBackspace: Rollo loses it and gives his zoo's employees a scathing critique of their new corporate owner:
-->'''Rollo:''' I think the whole Octopus philosophy is poison. The only aim of any and every [=McCain=] business is to downsize and halve the quality, to make enough money to acquire another business to downsize and halve the quality, to make enough money to acquire ''another'' business to downsize, etc., etc., without ever running a single one of them really well. And if anyone ever raises the question of quality, they're immediately attacked as an elitist, because at Octopus it's considered morally offensive to talk about anything but money. All so that Mr. Rod [=McCain=] can feel a little more powerful every day. That's why, instead of running this ''wonderful'' zoo properly, we've got to spoil it in order to finance his next ''mindless'' acquisition.
-->''(He notices one of [=McCain=]'s representatives standing behind him.)''
-->'''Rollo:''' ''(Without flinching)'' On the other hand, he is a remarkable man--.

* ExactWords: Willa thinks Rod is used to threesomes and open relationships, so she asks if one woman would be enough to satisfy him. He tells her that he hasn't been with 'one' woman for a long time.

** When Rollo institutes the "fierce creatures" policy and apparently starts to enforce it by taking away any animals that don't follow it and shooting them himself, the rest of the staff starts to do whatever it takes to protect the animals. Cut to descriptions of being mauled by sheep, with artfully-applied ketchup "slash marks" included.

* BadBoss: Rod [=McCain=]. Not even his son is safe from potential GeorgeJetsonJobSecurity, he belittles and insults everybody, and several times he talks to Willa he doesn't even tries to tone down the sexual harassment.

* BaitAndSwitchTyrant: Rollo only pretends to shoot the cute, fuzzy animals. He is instead keeping them hidden in his room.
* BestialityIsDepraved: What Rollo is presumed to be doing.

* EpicFail: Bugsy accidentally killing Rod. Not so much the fact he shot him, but the fact that by shooting him, he doomed his comrades to very swift life imprisonment. Not to mention, Rod has decided to keep the zoo open, mere seconds beforehand. Rollo points out how thoroughly [[OhCrap they're all screwed]] in a [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech tirade]] [[SarcasmMode dripping with sarcasm]].

* {{Expy}}: Rod [=McCain=], eccentric antipodean billionaire with a huge global business empire whose main business strategy is to buy out struggling entertainment businesses, revamp them to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and then sell them off for the money (and is named after a certain animal, no less). Nope, doesn't sound like Rupert Murdoch at all... Particularly since the zoo was one of the acquisitions he "snatched from that bastard Murdoch" in the first place.

* FreudianSlipperySlope: John Cleese has a brilliant monologue about lemurs wherein he is unable to go five words without mentioning Jamie Lee Curtis' breasts. He even describes it as a "Freudian slit...-slut!...-slot!"

* HilarityInZoos: The movie takes place mainly at the zoo

%%* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace

* {{Metaphorgotten}}: Rod [=McCain=] claims "Sheep are exactly like people, you know. Give 'em a couple of meals a day, they just stand there quietly... till you eat 'em."

* OfCorpseHesAlive: When the father is shot in the head, a plan is quickly concocted to have his son play the father and then pretend to commit suicide. This works well since both characters are played by Kevin Kline.

* PeopleZoo: Rollo and his office are an exhibit in a cage at the zoo.

-->'''Vince''': ''[overjoyed]'' You're dead! You're dead! You're dead, you BIG! ''[punch]'' FAT! ''[punch]'' BASTARD!

** "[[Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus Beautiful plumage]]", "[[Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail Flesh wound]]", and, of course, calling Willa "Wanda".

** Furthermore, the character of Bugsy has the same accent and manner of rambling on, despite whether or not anybody is listening, of the character Mr. Pither from ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus''.
* SmallNameBigEgo: Vince. Willa described him as "pronoid"; the opposite of paranoid. Despite all evidence to the contrary, he thinks he is admired, respected, and popular. Needless to say, not a single other character can stand him.

* UrbanLegendLoveLife: This movie demonstrates from the inside how this can happen unintentionally. It turns out the process is similar to that which makes an AccidentalPervert, but with more of a tendency towards AccidentalInnuendo.

-->''(notices one of [=McCain=]'s representatives standing behind him)''
-->'''Rollo:''' ''(without flinching)'' On the other hand, he is a remarkable man--.

* {{Expy}}: Rod [=McCain=], eccentric antipodean billionaire with a huge global business empire whose main business strategy is to buy out struggling entertainment businesses, revamp them to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and then sell them off for the money (and is named after a certain animal, no less). Nope, doesn't sound like Rupert Murdoch at all...

* {{Expy}}: Rod [=McCain=], eccentric antipodean billionaire with a huge global business empire whose main business strategy is to buy out struggling entertainment businesses, revamp them to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and then sell them off for the money (and is named after a certain animal ([[Creator/Fox]]), no less). Nope, doesn't sound like Rupert Murdoch at all...

* {{Expy}}: Rod [=McCain=], eccentric antipodean billionaire with a huge global business empire whose main business strategy is to buy out struggling entertainment businesses, revamp them to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and then sell them off for the money (and is named after a certain animal (Creator/Fox), no less). Nope, doesn't sound like Rupert Murdoch at all...

* {{Expy}}: Rod [=McCain=], eccentric antipodean billionaire with a huge global business empire whose main business strategy is to buy out struggling entertainment businesses, revamp them to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and then sell them off for the money (and is named after a certain animal, no less). Nope, doesn't sound like Rupert Murdoch at all...

* {{Expy}}: Rod [=McCain=], eccentric antipodean billionaire with a huge global business empire whose main business strategy is to buy out struggling entertainment businesses, revamp them to appeal to the lowest common denominator, and then sell them off for the money. Nope, doesn't sound like Rupert Murdoch at all...