Didn't think it was possible to top Shaun of the Dead, but they've done it!

Rating: 10/10 (6 February 2007)

Hot Fuzz marks the long awaited return of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright's partnership to the big screen. Shaun of the Dead left them with a very hard act to follow but Hot Fuzz easily achieves expectations and possibly even exceeds its predecessor. And the team stay close to their roots with plenty of in jokes and sly nods to other films to keep their core fan base happy. And of course there is the inevitable who's who of British comedy showing up in various roles throughout the film, most memorably Bill Bailey. Although I have to say I was sad to see that Dylan Moran and Jessica Stevenson were absent.
The film tells the story of Nicholas Angel, an overachieving supercop from London who is making the rest of his department look bad through his diligent dedication to the job. Cue him being shipped off to a quiet Gloucestershire village, Sandford. Angel does not fit in with the local constabulary, who prefer to eat cake and drink excessively rather than do any police work. When lots of 'accidents' start happening around the village they are dismissive of Angel's claims that there is more to them than meets the eye and leave him to investigate and piece together the details on his own.
The story works well, slowly piecing together what's going on and there are various twists and turns along the way, if nothing too extravagant. The action set-pieces also work well, carefully treading that thin line between comic and just plain ridiculous. There are one-liners aplenty, as to be expected, and this will be another endlessly quoted film I'm sure (not that I can remember any at this point in time, I'm useless like that!). There is also an inspired take on THAT fence jumping scene from Shaun of the Dead.
Some brilliant characters are introduced in Hot Fuzz. Olivia Colman's character PC Doris has to be one of the highlights, every time she speaks it raises a laugh. It is also good to see Simon Pegg playing a different character from his usual geeky, lovable layabout. Nick Frost again proves his worth as PC Danny, who is more concerned with cop movies than actual police work. Other classics are the proper Gloucestershire copper who needs translating into English, the sly Andy's detectives and a recurring swanÂ…Â…Â…Â…..
All-in-all hats off to Simon, Edgar and team for managing to keep the standard up with their second film, especially with it not being as obvious a target for them as the zombie movie. I wasn't sure how it was going to work them tackling this genre but they have done an excellent job. Let's hope they continue their magic with other themes, maybe a revenge movie? Or a Western?