Bring the Noise! Comedy at its absolute best.

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2007)

I've just seen Hot Fuzz at a midnight showing, and can safely say it is a truly excellent movie, and one that works on so many levels. The humour is very much in the vain of the excellent Shaun of the Dead, but arguably, this is the better movie. Without giving too much away, the first half of the movie is part comedy, part genuinely touching drama. Simon Pegg especially shines in his role as the super cop Nick Angel struggling with finding meaning to his life, he really excels in bringing out the inner struggles of the character. Don't be fooled into thinking this is a straight up silly comedy, there are some genuinely moving parts that really sucks you into the movie. The development of the relationship between Pegg and Nick Frost's bumbling bobby character is one of the most realistic and touching I've possibly ever seen in a cop movie, it's truly genuine. In fact, all the characters are played completely realistically, totally dead pan by the superb cast, including a very worth while turn by the venerable Timothy Dalton who brings some genuine menace to the screen.
This is all wrapped in a brilliantly timed slice of comedy genius, the script is razor sharp and the laughs come quick and fast. Hilarious little throw away shots and cameos from every major British comedian on TV at the moment keep the viewer paying close attention. This isn't over blown slapstick comedy, but for the most part very wry and intelligent dialogue based humour. However, when the big visual gags do come along, they work all the better for being so different to the comedy in the rest of the movie. The real genius of the comedy here is none of it is obvious, there are no jokes in the movie or trivial juvenile humour, this is social aware, very clever and for the most part clear, yet at the same time subtle humour.
Possibly surprisingly, the plot is actually very good, and keeps you guessing along with the characters as the story unfolds. There are twists that you don't see coming, and you really can't predict how the movie unfolds. The climax of the movie is its true crowning moment, working on the very powerful imagery built in the first two thirds of the movie it works unbelievably well, I had a massive grin just plastered to my face, my face actually hurt after the movie. Whilst the end of the movie could be described as rather silly, the very serious first part lends it enough credibility to make it truly work. Again though, this is played totally dead pan by the excellent cast, and the scenes are intense enough that one finds the absurdity of the settings absolutely hilarious instead of just simply absurd.
It's hard to portray just how well this movie works, it's tied together by a fantastic cast, razor sharp script, perfect timing and settings, excellent plot, amazing action scenes and a small number of utterly over the top gore for many hilarious "EWWW!!" moments from across the audience. Oh, and the best swan in the history of cinema. Even if you're not a fan of old cop movies, this is still a truly excellent movie, but if you are a fan of said movies such as Bad Boys or Point Blanc, you'll be in heaven here. Remember, like Shaun of the Dead, this isn't a spoof, the comedy isn't about mocking these movies, it is genuine in its admiration for them, just transposes the ideas to a comic situation.
Please go and see this movie, it is really that good. All I can say is "Bring the Noise!!!"