Cop Buddy Movie genre mashup with humor, drama and action!

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2011)

A hilarious blend of comedy, action and drama taking aim and squarely blasting the cop buddy movie genre. Too serious to be a "spoof", but filled with humor both obvious and subtle, this is the type of movie that begs repeat viewings. It's a cross-genre mashup that might be hard to define, but sure is fun to watch.
In "Hot Fuzz" we get the traditional mismatched cop buddies, but it's taken to the extreme, and actually works very well. Even the dichotomy of a rural setting for a crazy murder mystery plot adds to the surreal as well as the humor.
My biggest gripe with the film is that I'm not a fan of overt gore. True it is done in a comedic manner for effect (ow, ow , ow), but it caught me off guard and is unnecessary. Severed heads, impalement's, blood-spurting wounds... the explicitness should be left to horror films.
Another minor gripe was that some of the action stuff was cut way too fast and makes you dizzy. I appreciate the idea of adding multiple cuts to add energy, but this was over-the-top. Perhaps the decision was purposeful, lampooning even the style of action movies... but for me it was a little distracting.
"Hot Fuzz" is at it's best with the many laugh out loud moments: the runaway goose, translating the local dialect, the human statue "threat", the bodyguard who just says "Naarp!", and wordplay twists throughout. These smart bits of humor make the film a keeper... just be prepared for high action and some gore with your laughs.