Emmerdale meets Looney Tunes

Rating: Null/10 (28 June 2015)

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are one of the most brilliant comedic duos of our time. And nowhere is this more abundantly clear than in this film, their greatest comedy to date.
Almost superhuman London police officer Nicholas (Pegg) is somewhat forced to move to a small rural town where he meets up with its various inhabitants, one of them being an ineffectual local cop (Frost), who happens to be the son of the local chief of police. And thus a man used to the high octane action of London crime scene is forced to attend tea parties and to solve crimes such as rampant swans terrorizing the local fields.
But then people start dying, seemingly by accident.
What makes this such an effective comedy is first of all the comedic capabilities of its two main leads, but also how quick it is. Every scene has a joke, often multiple, and almost all of them are bullseyes. It's also very British in that the characters themselves don't seem to be in on the jokes. Most of them take the hilarity very straight-faced, which paradoxically makes it all the more hilarious.
The film is also not afraid to go over the top and often, but in an intelligent way. The jokes don't pander to the lowest common denominator and the plot itself is more of a thriller mystery than your typical "let's put silly people into silly situations" comedy plot. The final climax is even a straight up action sequence, though of course suitably over the top one.
Hot Fuzz is one of the best comedies I've seen because it treats its viewers with respect. It's quick with a joke, but equally quick with character development and multilayered plot. Definitely worth a watch.