By The Power Of Greyskull!

Rating: 8/10 (29 August 2007)

If you enjoyed SHAUN OF THE DEAD, you're going to feel an irresistible pull toward HOT FUZZ. Done in similar fashion and with familiar names, Hot Fuzz is an action flick that loves to take jabs at those cop and western films we so loved growing up with. Everything from PALE RIDER (an old Clint Eastwood film) to BAD BOYS is referenced in some fashion, and they will most likely tickle your funny bone.
Instead of deadbeat zombies, though, this time we've got a sleepy little town with a deadly secret. Feeling very STEPFORD WIFE-ish, a highly successful police officer named Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is forced out of his undefeated duties as London cop-extraordinaire and into the dull and mundane town of Sandford. Partnered with the chubby and inept Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), Officer Angel learns to slow down but not before discovering a few strange things about his new town. They've won, every year for some time now, an award for being the best town in England. Not much to argue with there. But Nick Angel soon sees death lurking here and there (and when I say death, I mean scythe and all!) Townsfolk are cut down and the local constabulary simply wave them off as accidents. But to Nick these are NOT plain old mishaps.
A conspiracy theory soon engulfs Nick's solo investigation and we find our lone hero riding a pale horse into town while loaded for bear (queue whistling Eastwood soundtrack here). The big question, though, is can he trust his lame partner, Danny, to back him.
Battles and bloodshed fill the screen as Nick finds himself at odds with everyone in Sandford. From blowing away the clergy to drop-kicking an octogenarian in the face, Nick has his arms, legs and other appendages busy keeping himself alive as much as solving these supposed murders.
There are a ton of great lines in the film, showing that writer/actor Simon Pegg has some significant screen writing abilities (one of my favorite lines was after Nick and Danny watched Bad Boys and Nick said, "Well, I wouldn't argue that it wasn't a no holds barred, adrenaline fueled thrill ride. But there is no way you can perpetrate that amount of carnage and mayhem and not incur a considerable amount of paperwork." And I enjoyed Danny's, "By the power of Greyskull!" moments, too.) Making parodies of previously serious or scary films seems to be Pegg's and Frost's forte. And they do it exceptionally well. Although I think Shaun of the Dead is the gauge by which their future works will be judged, including this one, I also think they've hit upon something that isn't bathroom humorish like the SCARY MOVIE films/franchise. The dialogue and action fit together well and are meant for those who enjoy their laughter with a little more thought and quite a few in-jokes.
I still hold Shaun of the Dead as a much more entertaining film, but this one rates up there well enough, too.