Hot Fuzz

Rating: 8/10 (4 April 2007)

With Shaun of the Dead, the Edgar Wright-Simon Pegg team created a wonderfully funny fantasy that was universally loved. The big question was, could they follow it up with another hit? And the answer is: of course they can. Hot Fuzz is extremely witty and action packed, and although it may not be quite as high as Shaun of the Dead in the realms of action-comedy, it is certainly not far off.
This time around Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, the antithesis of Shaun; a London policeman that is so good at his job it makes everyone else look bad. Because of this, his superiors decide to relocate him to the village of Sandford in Somerset. There he meets the bumbling but well-meaning Danny (Frost), and after a series of accidents, soon begins to suspect that the village is hiding something.
As always, the humour is in the writing instead of just in visual gags and, like Shaun, it is very well written. However, the buck has passed from Simon Pegg onto Nicholas Frost  this is because Angel is such a serious, straight-faced guy that the humour relies on other people to play off him, rather than let him be part of it. But Frost succeeds admirably, proving himself as a vital member of the creative trio. Danny is naïve but constantly trying to prove himself, his good nature often conflicting with Angel; he is always asking about the city life: "Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?" he asks. "No" deadpans Angel. "Have you ever fired one gun whilst jumping through the air?" As such, Pegg has little to do other than be the butt of the jokes but, like any good buddy film, he lightens up soon enough to get back to the Pegg we all recognise.
The action scenes are well handled in the capable hands of Edgar Wright, but they do lack the sophistication of the best action films that really make you want to be there shooting the hell out of stuff along side the good guys. Also, when the action kicks in towards the end, the comedy gets sidelined, the laughter stemming from the extremes of action violence rather than the clever writing, and this makes the tone feel slightly uneven, the film unable to balance all its elements as effectively as we would hope.
Still, the reason why Hot Fuzz is so much better than most other parodies/homages is because it doesn't need to drill in any aspect of its references. Whilst it openly refers to action film such as Bad Boys II and Point Break (Danny shows these films to Angel during the film), the cleverness results in not heavy-handedly referencing its sources, instead making them a more subtle 'guess-the-movie' style of parody (notice the Tony Scott editing style during the processing of arresting youths, for example).
Some fine cameos from some of our best comedians and TV stars, along with a great pantomime performance from Timothy Dalton as the obvious bad guy, adds to the mix with great charm, and along with some great set pieces will ensure that Hot Fuzz, although not quite as creative as Shaun of the Dead, will still become one of the finest comedies of recent times.
Rated: 8/10
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