enormous fun

Rating: 7/10 (24 February 2007)

What is particularly clever about this excellent movie is that it brings two genres together with such skill that if you are unread in one, you can still enjoy the other. The genres are 1) the tough city cop (Dirty Harry, etc), and 2) the Agatha Christie death-in-a-quiet-English-village. I know almost nothing about the former, but I've seen loads of the latter, and still loved Hot Fuzz - so people who know the tough-cop movies will have got all the jokes I missed, adding to their enjoyment.
Superb script, full of laughs but also endearing observation. The central performances by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are terrific, particularly Pegg's, who shows a really wide range here: if it weren't couched in a parodic comedy, his performance might well be recognised as award-worthy.
For an UK audience there is much delight in watching some wonderful character actors at work, led by Jim Broadbent, Billie Whitelaw and Anne Reid, their ranks joined by former dashing leading men Edward Woodward and Timothy Dalton, who are both excellent, especially Dalton, parodying his most famous role, which makes it all the funnier. There is also terrific double-act support from Paddy Considine and Rafe Spall.
Enormous fun.