Silly, dumb, stupid, daftand quite a lot of fun.

Rating: 7/10 (7 May 2007)

Over-hyped. Yes! Over-rated. Probably.
But, for those with a quirky sense of humour (and an appreciation of small town mentality), Hot Fuzz is still loads of fun.
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg, the creators of the hugely successful zombie comedy Shaun of the Dead, reunite for this rather silly, but still enjoyable tale which sees a top Met police officer, Sergeant Nicholas Angel (Pegg), transferred (thanks to his jealous colleagues) to the sleepy country town of Sandford.
At first Angel is bored by the lack of action, but he is soon back in his element after several of the town-folk are killed in mysterious circumstances. Aided by PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), he sets out to discover who is responsible for the gruesome slayings.
Utilising the offbeat, quick-fire comic style of Wright and Pegg's TV series Spaced, blended with the flashy editing techniques prevalent in much of today's Hollywood action movie output (which gets mercilessly mocked), Hot Fuzz is always amusing, occasionally hilarious, and eventually extremely daft.
Referencing an endless array of other movies (movie geeks will have a field day spotting these) and featuring some enjoyable scenes of OTT gore and the occasional hi-octane gunfight, Wright and Co. are obviously having a great time lampooning a genre they love. Only occasionally does the humour miss the target; most of the time it hits dead centre.
Perhaps the film takes a little too long to get going, but it eventually slips into gear and becomes much more enjoyable. Then, just as you think it has come to a satisfactory ending (at a point which is reminiscent of The Wicker Man), it becomes an all out OTT action flick, completely dispensing with reality and delivering one of the most ridiculous shoot-outs ever committed to film. How you process this part of the film depends entirely on your particular sense of humour (and, perhaps on your nationalityI think it helps to be English), but fans of Spaced and Shaun of the Dead are the most likely to 'get it'.
Initially, I am going to rate Hot Fuzz 7/10, which I imagine many might say is not high enough. Perhaps after another viewing, with my expectations not quite so ridiculously high (thanks to the hype), my rating might go up.