Hot Fuzz

• Title: Hot Fuzz
• Director: Edgar Wright
• Date: 2007
• Studio: Rogue Pictures, Working Title, Universal Pictures
• Genre: Comedy, Action
• Cast:  Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Bill Nighty, Edward Woodward, Ron Cook, Martin Freeman, David Bradley
• Format: Color, Widescreen
• Video Format:  Blu-Ray

"But the fact is, you've been making us all look bad." - Met Chief Inspector
"I'm sorry, sir?" - Nicholas
" 'Course we all appreciate your efforts but you've been rather letting the side down." - Met Chief Inspector
"It's all about being a team player, Nicholas." - Inspector
"If we continue to let you run around town you'll continue to be exceptional and we can't have that. You'll out us all out of a job." Met Chief Inspector

"You can't switch off, Nicholas." - Janice

"I just feel like I'm missing out sometimes. I wanna do what you do." - Danny
"You do do what I do. Why on Earth do you think you're missing out?" - Nicholas
"Gun fights, car chases. Proper action and shit." - Danny
"Police work is not about proper action! Or shit! It you've paid attention to me in school you'd understand. It's not all about gun fights and car chases." - Nicholas

Nicholas Angel is an excellent police officer - excelling in training, as well as academically, and has an arrest record 400 percent better than his fellow officers in the London Met. He is completely dedicated to his job and extremely good at what he does. But that becomes his problem as well. His girlfriend tells him he "can't switch off", and his fellow officers find his talent for policing annoying because he "makes them look bad". So the Met comes to a decision - Nicholas is promoted to sergeant and transferred to the quaint English village of Sandford. Nicholas protests - but to no avail. So he and his Japanese Peace Lily plant head for Sandford.

In Sandford, Nicholas has trouble fitting in, though he gradually becomes friends with his new partner, Danny. But Nicholas also begins to suspect something strange is going on, as a series of fatal accidents occurs in the quiet village. Nicholas suspects these accidents are murders - but everyone from the villagers to the other police officers insist they are accidents. It's obvious the murders are murders, and Nicholas can't understand the reluctance the police have to investigate them as such. Slowly Nicholas even suspects the random acts of violence are linked.

Nicholas investigates, and also becomes acclimatized to the village and it's rather odd inhabitants. But soon his investigations turn up a vast conspiracy - of actions and silence, that even reaches into the police itself. Nicholas is forced to leave.

However, he soon returns, and with the help of his partner Danny, he cleans-up the town in a symphony of violence and action.

Trust me - it's funnier than it sounds. Hot Fuzz combines a satire of American action thriller films (such as Lethal Weapon, Point Break, and Die Hard), an English Village horror story (The Wicker Man, which starred a very young Edward Woodward, who also appears in this film), and a surprisingly sensitive story of a man's coming into his own. Simon Pegg is the main character, Nicholas Angel, but he plays the role as the Straight Man. It isn't Angel who's the comedian - what makes the film funny is how Angel reacts to the outrageousness around him. And Nicholas also grows, not simply learning "to switch off" but to embrace his inner nature, but to take the time to form friendships as well. The arc of the relationship between Nicholas and Danny is well told, and parallels many classic American buddy cop films.

Yet it isn't simply Nicholas' story that Hot Fuzz tells and tells extremely well. Danny's favorite passtime outside of work is watching the American action films that Hot Fuzz will ultimately parody, especially in the action-packed final sequences. A central scene in the film has Danny talking Nicholas into a real night out at the pub, with the two both drinking lagar, rather than Nicholas having his one cranberry juice then leaving. After several beers, the two head to Danny's for an action movie binge night. Danny however grows as well, learning self-confidence and ultimately stepping out of his police inspector father's shadow.

Yet this film, for all that it borrows and parodies from American action thrillers, is also quintessentially British, in that the actual plot that Nicholas discovers is that of the "perfect English village that gets it's perfection from weird cults and strange sacrifices or conspiracies". It's a story that's been around for awhile (the film The Wicker Man is a prime example, but I've seen versions of the story on Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) (2000), Torchwood, and even the Neil Gaiman novel American Gods, and I'm sure there are more examples.) But Hot Fuzz combines an insane amount of violence, lots of action, including a bit pulled from Lethal Weapon with Pegg and Frost firing two hand guns each while moving diagonally through the frame, car chases, confrontations, explosions, and just lots and lots of gunfire and sight gags. It's hard to describe how such over-the-top action scenes can be funny - but because they are so over-done they are. Yet the film never loses sight of it's characters or the characters unique points of view (even the villagers' conspiracy, as misguided as it is - makes sense to them). Throughout the story the characterization rings true - even when the action and violence hits the ludicrous level (which makes the film funny). Nicholas Angel isn't someone the audience will laugh at in this film. He's someone the audience will sympathize with, especially as some of the other police officers, especially at the beginning, bully him,  and ignore his knowledge.

In the end, Nicholas gets to the bottom of things, and not only is all well - but the trio of inspectors from the beginning of the film arrive in the village to ask Nicholas back to the Met. Nicholas declines, deciding he likes his little village.

Hot Fuzz is a great movie, full of wonderful bits, great acting, and a top-notch cast. The films blends genres effortlessly and showcases the talents of Nicholas Pegg, who really is the central character of the film.  I highly recommend it.

Recommendation: A must see!
Rating: 5 Stars