Hot Fuzz (2007) February 23, 2007
Posted by gproject in : Cinema, Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Edgar Wright
‘Highly anticipated’ are the two words I’ve been using to describe my feeling towards this movie. And for once, there’s actually a justification for it. After the huge success that was Shaun of the Dead, the boys are back, this time dropping the zombie horror elements for a rampaging, no holds barred, all-out blockbusting action-fest. In Somerset.
The town of Wells stands in for the fictional village of Sandford, home of the lowest crime rate in England. It’s also where police officer Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) finds himself after his outstanding record in London starts to make the rest of the force look bad. Even after the mandatory move, Angel continues to try and excel in his job, but he quickly finds out that small town police work involves not much more than visiting the local shop with his adopted partner Danny (Nick Frost). That is until a set of grisly ‘accidents’ start bumping off members of the community. Angel is convinced there’s something sinister going on in the sleepy town and despite objections from his new colleagues, he’s determined to get to the bottom of it.
The first thing to note is that, like in Shaun, the chemistry between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is what makes the movie such an enjoyable watch. They banter on-screen together effortlessly, in fact it’s almost hard to believe that their characters only just met, although the story tries hard to accommodate this immediate friendship. Their performances aside, there are numerous other top names making appearances, including Bill Bailey, Jim Broadbent, Steve Coogan, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy and Timothy Dalton; in a villainous role that gives Dick Dastardly a run for his money.
Another sharp script from writers Pegg and Wright keeps the laughs coming and with the trademark running gags that were such a feature of their earlier work on display again, it’s hard not to find something to laugh at. I’m sure there are many more jokes that I missed on first viewing, but when the inevitable DVD purchase comes my way I’ll take pleasure in sitting down to scour through it more closely.
There are plenty of movie references to spot too, as well as some wonderful shot replications that work so much better than the mere ‘spoofing’ of recent Hollywood efforts. Some of the homages are a little forced, having to be shown or explained earlier in the film ready for payoff later. And while I suppose it’s just trying to let as many people as possible ‘in’ on the joke, there’s a great satisfaction to picking up on the references in a film like this, a feeling that’s diluted by over-explanation.
The real star of the show however, is Edgar Wright’s direction which is absolutely superb, tackling both the comedic and the action elements with great skill. It’s not easy to pull off such a large genre-leap and comedy movies that try to include action sequences often come off looking painfully out of their league. 
With Hot Fuzz, not only do we get the trademark whip-pans and ‘short shot’ scene changes from Shaun and Spaced, but along with them come a stylistic editing asthetic during the large-scale shootouts that emulates the Tony Scott school of filmmaking with a knowing smile.
On the whole, I think this flick loses out to Shaun Of The Dead by sometimes focusing on its genre juxtaposition too much, and ruining the subtlety of its gags. I also don’t think there are quite as many laughs, although I’m aware that I need to see it again to get the most out of it, while first impressions leave me with the feeling that the script isn’t as smart. Of course, you have to bear in mind that SotD was, and remains, one of the best British comedies made this century. It’s a tough bar to jump.
The important thing is that these guys continue to hold the crown for British comedic excellence in film. They certainly didn’t let us down, despite that mega-hype that was always going to surround this release. Hot Fuzz is still probably the funniest movie that will come out of the country all year, and we should be proud to have the talents of Pegg and Wright on our side. I can already feel the anticipation mounting for their next project.
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