The long-awaited reunion of the nearly decade-old A Fish Called Wanda's cast, Fierce Creatures may have been given a bad break from the start, weighted down with expectations for another farce as funny and fluidly paced as its predecessor. But by any standard, Fierce Creatures would still be a loping, ungainly mess. The movie revives AFCW's theme of greedy, arrogant Americans (Kevin Kline and Jamie Lee Curtis) versus the mossy, apologetic English (John Cleese and Michael Palin) in an intriguing premise: the acquisition and commercial overhaul of a gentle British zoo by a vulgar global media conglomerate. But the heavily re-edited storyline lurches about in fits and starts with little build-up, and much of the film's slapstick is shot in an artless multiple-take style that bogs down the spontaneity. The four principals portray largely uninspired, underwritten variations on their Wanda characters, particularly John Cleese as the martinet zoo director who all-too-easily melts into little-boy vulnerability. Cute lemurs and a couple jabs at corporate assholery can't save Fierce Creatures from its manic malaise.