Hot Fuzz

April 10, 2007

Rated: R Runtime: 121 min Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

HOT FUZZ is the new comedy by the guys who made SHAWN OF THE DEAD. Directed and co-written by Edgar Wright, it’s an action movie, cop buddy film.

Hot Fuzz Sergeant Nick Angel (Simon Pegg, also co-writer) is a top London cop, who is so good at his job that he’s making the other police officers look bad. So they banish him to a sleepy rural village. There he’s partnered with Police Constable Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), who’s bored living in a village with no crime, but dreams of Life Imitating Art… in this case, the Art being movies like POINT BREAK and BAD BOYS 2.

At first, police-work in Nick’s new home seems to consist of catching underage drinkers and tracking down wayward swans.

But something sinister is afoot in the village of Sanford, and soon Angel & Butterman are combating a tsunami of a crime wave. Angel begins to suspect that a series of grisly accidents are really murders.

In the same way that SHAWN OF THE DEAD manages to be both a comedy and a good zombie horror movie, HOT FUZZ is funny… but it’s also a respectable action cop-buddy movie which builds up to a crescendo of gunplay, car chases, and explosions.

That it takes place in Wales just makes it funnier.

It’s also a spoof of another English movie, but to mention it by title would be to reveal too much.

However, a hint might be found here: Actors in it include Timothy Dalton, Edward Woodward, and Bill Nighy. Also Peter Jackson makes a cameo.

This is a movie that recognizes that, as ridiculous as movies like POINT BREAK and BAD BOYS 2 are, they’re strangely satisfying viewing experiences.

Also, there are plenty of British gangster movies, but I can’t think of any British police movies. This is a great one!

Posted by Mack Guffin | Filed Under 5 Stars, Action, Bill Nighy, Comedy, Edward Woodward, Nick Frost, R, Simon Pegg, Theatrical, Timothy Dalton