Flat out, Shaun of the Dead is one of my favorite films of the past couple of years. It was creative, funny, scrary… and single handedly created a new genre of film making: The Rom-Com-Zom (also known as the Romantic Comedy with Zombies). So imagine the great excitement when we heard this team was brining us a new film… Hot Fuzz.
Here’s the gist of it.
“Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the finest cop London has to offer, with an arrest record 400% higher than any other officer on the force. He’s so good, he makes everyone else look bad. As a result, Angel’s superiors send him to a place where his talents won’t be quite so embarrassing – the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford. Once there, he is partnered with the well-meaning but overeager police officer Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). The son of amiable Police Chief Frank Butterman, Danny is a huge action movie fan and believes his new big-city partner might just be a real-life “bad boy,” and his chance to experience the life of gunfights and car chases he so longs for. Angel is quick to dismiss this as childish fantasy and Danny’s puppy-like enthusiasm only adds to Angel’s growing frustration. However, as a series of grisly accidents rocks the village, Angel is convinced that Sandford is not what it seems and as the intrigue deepens, Danny’s dreams of explosive, high-octane, car-chasing, gunfighting, all-out action seem more and more like a reality. It’s time for these small-town cops to break out some big-city justice.”
THE GOOD
Nick Frost, who was great in Shaun of the Dead, absolutely SHINES in this film. His pure comedic talent is allowed in this role to really show, and the results are hysterical. He plays the “lovable, yet bumbling” part so well, but at the same time endears the character to you. You don’t just end up liking the chubby little cop… you actually BELIEVE in him, cheer for him, and laugh with him all along the way.
This is a funny funny film. No, it’s not as funny as Shaun of the Dead and doesn’t have the same amount of laughs… but that doesn’t change the fact that you’ll grin a lot during this film. Most of the top laughs come from Frost himself, but the dialog is sharp, and director Edgar Wright’s use of situational humor and how he takes advantage of mood, context and atmosphere in the humor of the film is exceptional.
One of the things that surprised me about Hot Fuzz was its good use of action. No, this isn’t Pirates of the Caribbean, but as a cop action tribute, they really utilize some of the great standard action sequence formulas of the cop action films of the 90’s. The diving through the air, the duck and cover… great stuff.
One of my favorite things about Hot Fuzz was its direct homage to some of those action films. Films like Point Break (a truly fun movie that more people need to get out and see. Easily my favorite Patrick Swazye movie of all time) and others. As a film fan geek boy, it filled my empty heart with love to see.
THE BAD
The one deadly flaw to this film was its occasional decent into the corny, and when I say “corny” I don’t mean silly little things that some characters will do… I mean from time the time the film changes genres and thinks it’s AIRPLANE or HOT SHOTS and just gets totally bloody ridiculous… and it just doesn’t fit and pulls you out of the film. There is a fine line between “silly” and flat out “slapstick spoof”. Hot Fuzz works best with it boarders on the silly… but is at its worst when it crosses over to the Slapstick Spoof. Fortunately, that only happens a few times in the film.
Sigh, I know I can sound repetitive saying this… but it’s true: At just over 2 hours this film is too long for what it was. There was at least 15-20 minutes of stuff that could have been edited out which would have given us less lag time between laughs, a tighter pace, and cut out a couple of the more pointless scenes. It would have cured the film from feeling a little dragged out from time to time.
Bad ending.
OVER ALL
Do not go into this film automatically wired to compare it to Shaun of the Dead (which is tough not to do admittedly) and I believe you’ll walk out of Hot Fuzz having laughed a bunch and enjoyed a fun night at the movies. No, not quite as good as Shaun of the Dead, but who cares… it’s still a fun, at times exciting movie night out.
On the scale of 1-10 I give Hot Fuzz an 8. On the scale of No, Go and Routh… I give it a very solid GO.
