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Hot
Fuzz
(originally
posted by Jamie Kelwick at his own site -- www.the-usher.com.)
After
gaining cult status with their last movie, Shaun
of the Dead, the anticipation for Edgar Wright
and Simon Pegg's latest was bound to be huge.
That
was a massive fan favourite and a critical success all over
the world and following that up was always going to be difficult.
Instead of simply going down the horror path again, Wright
and Pegg have chosen another genre to pay homage to. This
time around they take us into big bang, gun wielding, all
out Hollywood style action, but set it in the West Country
of England.
The
premise is simple. A big city cop, the best in the business,
is reassigned to a sleepy town for being too good and showing
up his fellow officers. When he gets there he finds it hard
to switch off his policing skills and settle down to country
life, looking for crime at every turn and every accident.
When
he thinks a recent spate of accidents could actually be
murders, he can't help but investigate. That is the story
and a brilliant way of building a plot that enables co-writers
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg to pay homage to their favourite
action movies.
Of course,
as they did with their earlier film, the writing duo mix
in a large amount of comedy into the script and create characters
that are both memorable and outstandingly realised. Pegg's
Nicholas Angel is your typical hardnosed cop who basically
lives and breathes the law. An expert in every facet of
policing, he is a super cop. Pegg plays him with great skill
and extremely straight, as you'd expect for a man so dedicated
to his work.
His
partner Danny is wonderfully played by Nick Frost. A complete
change from Ed in Shaun of the Dead, Danny is an
instantly loveable character whose sweet nature and obsession
with Nicholas' career make him a firm favourite from the
outset.
Paddy
Considine and Rafe Spall are extremely funny as Sandford's
detectives who constantly take the mickey out of Nicholas
and Danny. Jim Broadbent is also exceptional as Inspector
Frank Butterman, the small town chief how doesn't believe
that anything could happen in his small town.
When
you add in eye-catching performances from Timothy Dalton
as supermarket owner Simon Skinner, Edward Woodward as Neighbourhood
Watch leader Tom Weaver, Bill Bailey as Sergeant Turner
and Olivia Colman as PC Doris Thatcher. Throw in cameos
by Steve Coogan, Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman and many more,
you have a brilliant cast bringing to life these great characters.
There
are huge nods to Bad Boys II and Point Break,
as well as all the other clichés that big Hollywood
action movies have stuck to since the 80s. The absolutely
astonishingly good, action packed finale has everything
and shows that Edgar Wright is a talented director that
is just at home with comedy, horror and action and could
probably turn his had to anything.
With
great characters, an engaging story and a finale that will
be considered a classic not just in comedy but in action
movies as well, Hot Fuzz is destined to become
a cult classic. Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg are the shining
lights of the British film industry and this film will push
them to even greater heights.
Rating:
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