Wright, Pegg and Frost are the future of comedy cinema...

Rating: 8/10 (4 August 2007)

The Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost teams' second feature film brings equal amounts of parody and gore from their first venture 'shaun of the Dead.' Their parody of the cop/buddy film constantly quotes and lifts from films like 'Chinatown' and 'Bad Boys 2.' Perfectly ripping the common conventions like the cop who can't pick up a gun again, the mismatched police beat team and others, but manages to combine them into a screenplay that is not only hilarious but a clever murder mystery as well. The pace never slows as overachiever Sgt. Angel (Simon Pegg) is relocated from London's Met to England's "safest village," Sandford, and he begins to discover that all of the accidents that Sanford reports may not be so accidental after all. The film only increases in vigilantism and knotted detective work as the film progresses. Expertly executed action montages keep the pace and faux-action flowing, even in the paperwork sequences which inevitably follow all arrests. Something Sgt. Angel points out as flaws in cop films like 'Point Break' that his partner Danny (Nick Frost) admires. The film is engaging as both comedy and detective film, culminating in an epic fistfight at a miniature model of the Sandford. Sgt. Angel and Danny stand at the edge of the model village, as the battle seems to be over, "I feel like I should say something smart," Angel says. "You don't have to say anything at all," Danny replies. The film is a near perfect parody that can only make filmgoers excited for the possibilities of futures Wright/Pegg/Frost ventures.