Overlong,Patchily Funny Brit-com

Rating: 7/10 (6 April 2007)

A patchy comedy from the makers of SPACED and SHAUN OF THE DEAD,the first half of HOT FUZZ is certainly the funniest part of the film,with plenty of good gags,witty lines and amusing incident,contrasting Simon Pegg's previous experiences with inner-city policing and the relatively dull and uneventful life in rural West-Country England.
The second half of the film,though,has some wildly unexpected plot twists,deliberately overdone bloody violence,which despite Edgar Wright's best intentions come across as mostly unpleasant rather than funny,and parallel attempts at a satire on vigilantism and a parody on noisy,over-the-top Hollywood action adventure thrillers.This actually comes off quite well,and technically is as good if not better than the genre it is intending to send up and emulate.But the problem here is that the action scenes,well done as they are,are filmed and edited perhaps too literally to provoke genuine mirth,and an over-emphatic soundtrack is also a considerable mitigation against possible laughter.
That said,quality is evident throughout,with fine performances from Pegg,Nick Frost,a remarkably distinguished supporting cast of veteran British actors(Jim Broadbent,Billie Whitelaw,Timothy Dalton,Edward Woodward,Kenneth Cranham among others), amusing cameos(Steve Coogan,Bill Nighy,Cate Blanchett),and scores of in-jokes and references to other films(THE WICKER MAN,STRAW DOGS,BAD BOYS II) which are fairly well observed.The talented comedian Bill Bailey is wasted in a too-brief part(or parts)playing desk sergeant twins,but he still manages to raise laughs despite his regrettable lack of screen time.
The accumulation of action climaxes,however,becomes too much and are somewhat obviously contrived,and the film itself has around 20 minutes too much footage.Still,HOT FUZZ is enjoyable enough,especially it's first half.The second half is less so,though still pretty good if you can take it,but the faint-hearted may not be so tolerant.
RATING:6 and a half out of 10.