Superbly crafted dark action comedy

Rating: 9/10 (8 April 2007)

Usually, when I see a 'comedy' film trailer at the cinema it's for some hideous, unfunny film. So when I saw the trailer for Hot Fuzz and laughed all the way through, and had the same reaction when I saw the trailer again I knew it had to be seen.
Hot Fuzz didn't disappoint in any way - it's an adrenaline thumping ride, it has a wry and beautifully observed script, a dark, creepy and unsettling element to most of the village scenes (that feeling that 'something's going on here'), the superb quick-fire repartee between Sgt Angel and PC Butterman just left me with a constant grin. I adore films that combine fast paced humour with wit and cleverness and this one does it with style. Some of the lines are delivered in such a 'matter of fact' way and still manage to be hilarious - Angel correcting other members of the police station for using the phrase 'Police Force' because it creates a wrong image, they should be using 'Police Service' instead is not in itself funny, but with Simon Pegg's determined delivery and the hapless giggling of the other police staff it takes on a whole new angle.
There's a superb array of supporting characters in both the police station and the village itself that really create a wonderful stage for the proceedings - lost swans, village fêtes and of course, murder. Or is it an accident? Sublime.
I've never seen Shaun of the Dead, but after this I can see that I'll have to sort that out.