Hot Fuzz

Year: 2007
Director: Edgar Wright
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton

You know, I'm not much of a fan of British comedy. I did grow up watching Mind Your Language, and I liked it. But I usually don't find it too amusing. Not that I don't get it, I just can't appreciate it that much. I tried watching Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy once, and gave up after 30 minutes. I have trouble appreciating their quirky humour, which is very different from American humour. The former is more subtle, while the latter relies more on slapstick and crudeness.

However, when I saw the trailer to Hot Fuzz, I was intrigued and decided to give it a try. Unlike most critics who have already seen Shaun Of The Dead, the previous effort by the people who made Hot Fuzz, I haven't seen that film, so you won't get comparisons to that film from me. In fact, I know too little about Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost to talk about them, so I'll tell you like it is.

Hot Fuzz centres on Sergeant Nicholas Angel (Pegg) who is really good at what he does. He basically is the most decorated cop in London. His skills are unmatched by any of his fellow officers. He's the kind of guy that can make The Punisher look like a rookie. Anyway, the fact is, he's so good, his superiors think he makes everyone else look bad. So they relocate him to Sandford, a quiet town in the countryside, for his own good (at least that's what they think). Angel isn't pleased, but he has no choice. So off he goes to Sandford, and tries hard to fit in to the nice town. The chief of police there,Inspector Butterman (Broadbent) pairs Angel with his son Danny (Frost), a well-meaning but inexperienced rookie cop.

At first, Angel finds difficulty in fitting in to a place where the only crime there is are underage drinkers at the pub and missing swans. But eventually Danny gets him to lighten up and show his more human side. Danny looks upon Angel as a hero, being a fan of action films. He occasionally asks Angel some really hilarious questions on being a cop, like "Have you ever shot two guns while jumping through the air?" Then Angel finally gets the action he needs when some grisly deaths start turning up, but unfortunately everyone thinks they're accidents and not murder. Angel is determined to dig deeper, and he suspects retail supermarket owner Simon Skinner (Dalton) as the prime suspect. But there is more to Sandford than meets the eye....

This movie is supposed to be a parody on the buddy cop genre, but it's only obvious in the final 30 mins. Hot Fuzz takes its time in building up its story, which is the only drawback of this film. Otherwise, it truly is funny on many levels. Pegg plays the strung up cop Angel to perfection, he rarely smiles unless he's actually warming up to Danny in a few scenes. He can even be touching, as in the scene when he tells Danny why he wanted to be a cop. Frost on the other hand plays off well against Pegg by being the earnest yet naive Danny, who finally gets the action he relishes for by becoming Angel's partner. Dalton hams it up as the villain, and makes it quite memorable too.

You'll love all the cliches that director Wright puts in during the final climax, where guns go blazing, bullets keep missing their mark and car chases and physical fights and foul language gets thrown in. Hell, Wright even throws in a classic action movie death scene which you'll love when you see it.

This film is fun, just remember to pay attention to all the subtle jokes slipped in between the lines. (4/5)