Decidedly mixed

Rating: Null/10 (4 March 2007)

If you're going to see this film, then doubtless you'll have already seen Shaun of the Dead, and probably Spaced, the three having more similarities than differences. So you have a reasonable idea of what it's going to be like, and if it'll be your thing.
I think this film is a bit of a mess. Structurally, it's gapingly flawed. The opening third turns into more like the opening two thirds, hence the entire film has to take place in the last thirty minutes or so. It can't decide whether it wants to be a comedy, a cop action thriller, a horror movie, or a late night Sunday TV drama.
Basing a film around police in England is difficult, because everybody hates them, especially after the de Menezes shooting. These ones they try to make appealing by having them mostly goof off all day and eat ice-cream. This merely makes us hate them more.
Others have commented on the lack of laughs in the movie. It's completely true. They seem to have just forgotten to put the jokes in there. I can only assume they went for a 'funny in a difficult to describe way' feel, and ended up with a film as limp and dead as a mattress that's just been pulled from the bottom of the ocean. What we're seeing is more of an animated storyboard with full script to come.
Oh, and Timothy Dalton is very miscast as the lead villain. You end up feeling sorry for him. His every look and gesture seem to say "Remember me? I played James Bond once. I was unnverving and disturbing. I was critically acclaimed for it. Now here I am running a rural supermarket. I'm worth more than this." Overall, my argument here is with the director, Edgar Wright. Shaun of the Dead worked well, so it's surprising to see another film of his bungled so incompetently. Having a hit and being Brit cinema's next big hope always seems to be the kiss of death, condemning your next five projects to be overblown, Yank-pandering confusothons. Just ask Guy Ritchie.