- Title: Hot Fuzz
- IMDb: link
“Well, I wouldn’t argue that is was a no-holes barred, adrenalin-fueled thrill ride. But, there is no way you can perpetrate that amount of carnage and mayhem and not incur a considerable amount of paperwork.”
Supercop Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is promoted and shipped out of London to the sleepy burg of Sandburg. The rest of the London force is sick and tired of being shown-up by a one-man force with a 400% higher arrest record who makes the rest of them look bad.
So Angel shows up in Sandford, a town with almost no crime but a large amount of “accidental” deaths. Partnered with the chief’s son (Nick Frost), who has a love of American action flicks, a tendency to ask really annoying questions (“Have you ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?”), and little actual police knowledge, Angel investigates a few accidental deaths and becomes convinced a serial killer is murdering his way through the small town.
The film is a great send up of the action genre, including the plot twists and huge gun battle explosion sequences to end the film. Two years ago I feel in love with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (read that review) for doing many of the same things. Hot Fuzz isn’t quite on that level but it does a good job of balancing and respecting a genre while still enjoying poking fun at it’s oddities and absurdities. I’d go into more detail of just how absurd it gets, but it must be seen to be believed.
And the cast! Even in throw-away roles you get actors like Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Steve Coogan, Paddy Considine and Timothy Dalton as a red-herring who goes far beyond chewing the scenery and begins to mulch it in one of many pretty smart knocks on action flicks. Many of the same actors were used in director Edgar Wright’s previous collaboration with Pegg, Shaun of the Dead, which has as much fun with the horror genre as Hot Fuzz does with action.
Hot Fuzz is definitely worth a look, especially for fans of the films which are mocked here (and if you like Point Break you HAVE to see this movie, but I won’t spoil it by telling you why). It’s a wild and wacky good time at the movies you don’t want to miss.
