Not particularly funny

Rating: 5/10 (1 August 2016)

Edgar Wright's follow-up to SHAUN OF THE DEAD reunites that film's tale of two stars for an action movie parody with a distinctly British feel. It's a film played for laughs and packed with humour throughout, but as with any comedy, whether you like it or not depends on your sense of humour. I was rather indifferent; I felt that some of the scenes were genuinely running, while plenty of others fell flat and the two-hour running time made the second half really drag.
The film IS worth watching for the cast alone, as assembled are many British heavyweights including Billie Whitelaw, Edward Woodward, and more; best of all is Timothy Dalton, away from our screens for far too long and putting in an excellent turn. This time around, Simon Pegg is the lean, straight hero, and he gives his supporting characters all of the best lines. Nick Frost once again steals the limelight as the dim-witted village policeman and personally I found him to be the best thing in the film.
The film is undoubtedly well made and, as a pastiche of action cinema, there are plenty of references to be enjoyed by movie fans amid the humour. Unfortunately a lot of the secondary characters are sweary, unlikeable people who I didn't particularly want to have much screen time (Paddy Considine is my main consideration here). The bombastic nature of the production is done on purpose for laughs (imagine the mock-seriousness/earnestness of Michael Bay transported to rural England) but I found it to be severely grating and the shoot-outs that pepper the latter stages of the film are so unremarkable as to be dull. The CGI gore effects are in-your-face and gratuitous, and, I guess, played for laughs again, but I guess I missed the joke. This is one comedy that I definitely won't be returning to!