Only mildly funny but quite a fun ride nonetheless

Rating: 9/10 (19 April 2007)

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning
Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is a London copper so good he's embarrassing his superiors and fellow officers. So they transfer him to a sleepy village in Glouster called Sandford, where crime doesn't get much worse than some kids drinking under-age or even someone just dropping litter. It's so quiet even the police don't make much of an effort, which Nick discovers when he's partnered with PC Butterman (Nick Frost), a portly copper fascinated with Nick's big city back ground and Hollywood action movies. Frustrated and bored beyond belief, Nick succombs to a Limbo like existence in this sleepy English town- until residents start getting mysteriously bumped off by an unseen assailant. The finger of suspicion points towards suave, sly super-market owner Simon Skinner (Timothy Dalton) who stands to gain the most from the deaths. But just when things start getting interesting again, Nick starts to discover a truth more baffling than even he could imagine.
As a much better reviewer than me has already said, it's unfortunate that Hot Fuzz came out in a week when gun crime had hit the headlines of British newspapers in a manner unprecedented to anything seen before. Even for a film setting out to parody Hollywood action movies and the British mentality to gun violence, many probably thought it in bad taste after the week's shocking events. Still, it doesn't seem to have hurt it's box office performance too badly, being the second film from writer/star comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost after the over-rated but highly successful Shaun of the Dead.
As I've already said, it's setting out to send up Hollywood action films and simultaneously mocking the British response to this way of life. I did snigger a few times but I can't say there was anything that really made me explode with laughter. It's more successful as an affectionate tribute to the films it's setting out to take the p*ss out of, beaming through with Frost's character passionately singing the virtues of such films as Bad Boys II and Point Break, just two from his over-flowing library of such films.
The film does well performances wise. Pegg is actually really quite convincing as a hard, no nonsense policeman, even though he's playing it for laughs, whilst Frost is great fun in the support role, eagerly and joyfully trying to emulate his big city partner to great effect. As the villain, Dalton's far more restrained than his days where he played James Bond, although it's safe to say he'll now be typecast forever in this dastardly English villain role. And there's also a nice supporting appearance from Jim Broadbent, content to play a secondary character in spite of his wider recognition now.
I'd liked to have laughed a bit more, but I can't say I didn't have some nice fun with this film. More than I was expecting after the disappointment after the hype of SOTD. ****