Hot Fuzz
Written by Sullivan Smith
Published on 05/22/2007
Originally from Binary Culture / [the-lowdown.net]
http://www.binaryculture.net

It's such a cliche and it probably sounds like I'm trying to get put onto a movie ad or something. It's so true and it needs to be said. So I'm just going to say it and get it out of the way and be done with it.

If you loved Shaun of the Dead, you're going to live Hot Fuzz.

If that's all you really needed to know, then have at it. Go see it right now. Find out when it's showing, get up off your ass, and go see it.

And now for further discussion.

Simon Pegg (the writer and star) and Edgar Wright (the director, who, on top of directing the aforementioned Shaun also directed the Don't trailer for Grindhouse) have a knack for taking a parody and turning it into something you really didn't expect: a real movie. Whereas with Shaun Wright took one of those Working Title films (who, coincidently, produced both movies) that you would expect Hugh Grant to star in about love and some such nonsense, and threw a zombie movie into the middle of it. It did a fantastic job of playing with genre elements of both romantic comedies as horror films, all the while telling a real, compelling story.

Needless to say, I liked it.

Hot Fuzz does similar work, and while it's just as fine a piece of entertainment as Shaun, I do think the latter works better as a film. But I love Hot Fuzz, because it takes apart and then makes sweet, sweet love to one of my favorite genres; the ridiculous buddy cop action film.

Simon Pegg is Nicholas Angel, the best cop in London, who makes so many arrests and does such a good job he's pissing off the rest of his fellow cops. So, he gets transfered to a small village north of Whoknowswhere, where the most pressing crime seems to be teenage vandalism and drunk drivers, not to mention a runaway swan. While stuck in what has to obviously be his own personal hell, he begrudgingly takes under his wing the son of the local police chief, who has an obsession with action films, particularly those directed by one Michael Bay.

It's an interesting twist: instead of the cop getting reassigned for breaking the rules, he gets sent away for being too good at his job. Just when it seems like Nick might start to, if not accept his lot then at least get used to it, people in the village start to die.

And there you have it. I have no intention of telling you any more.

What could have easily turned into a Airplane,-like farce (not that there's anything wrong with that) actually becomes a fairly human film, with Angel starting to question why he feels the need to be Supercop all the time. Parts of the film that require outright silliness are done so, and the parts that require seriousness are done so as well, but all of it feels organic and natural, not like you're switching between two different movies.

While the direction in this film is top notch, and both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are fantastic in roles worlds apart from their Shaun of the Dead, parts, the real hero of this film is the writing. It's clever, but not so clever that you want to poke the film's eyes out if it actually had eyes. By the last fifteen minutes of the film, however, you're so excited with what's going on that you could really give two shits about what the films does as long as it stays that much fun.

Hot Fuzz has everything you'd expect from an R rated action/comedy - swearing and lots of blood. In fact, I was surprised just how graphic the violence was in this. It's not a bloodbath like Hostel by any means, but be prepared. Otherwise, go out and see this movie. I know it's been out for a while, but it deserves to be seen.