Hot Fuzz
By Steven Perdue, Blockbuster.co.uk

Big Cops, Small Town, Moderate Violence

Meet Nicholas Angel. With the top arrest record and a passion for paperwork he is the hottest cop in the Metropolitan Police Force. In fact, he is so hot that he is making his colleagues look bad. With this in mind Angel’s superiors send him away to Sandford, a village so sleepy it is practically comatose. Here he is partnered with the oafish Danny Butterman, a young PC looking for action of any kind. While at first Angel is suffocated by the pastoral atmosphere, bodies soon begin to appear and he and Danny are pressed into action. Sandford, it seems, may not be so idyllic after all...

When it comes to action movies the British Bobby has always lost out to his American cousins. While Will Smith and Martin Lawrence were blowing stuff up in Bad Boys or Bruce Willis was battling terrorists in Die Hard, PC Plod has never really managed to make it centre stage. The British crime film has always remained firmly rooted on the side of the criminal. Finally we have a film that does something to redress the balance and, hopefully, gives the UK police force a little bit of much-needed street cred.

Hot Fuzz scores on all fronts. As a comedy it is pitch perfect. After the super-fast initial set up the laughs come thick and fast and mostly courtesy of Frost’s bumbling Butterman. The friendship between Pegg and Frost is clear as day and, because of their infectious camaraderie, watching Hot Fuzz is a lot like hanging out, discussing action movies with your best (and funniest) mates. Speaking of action movies Hot Fuzz is no slouch in that arena either. There’s a wild west shoot out in a village high street, a car chase two perfectly matched Astras and what the filmmakers have dubbed ‘the battle of Somerfield’. Hot Fuzz has all of the big-budget big bangs but with a hilarious home-counties twist. There are a million-and-one movie references crammed into the film too. From the obvious (Point Break, Bad Boys II) to the slightly more obscure (the Chinatown reference is a blink and you’ll miss it moment) Wright, Pegg and Frost show that they really know and love the movies that they parody.

The supporting cast are also absolutely superb. The film is overflowing with top British actors and comedians in small but perfectly formed cameos. Bill Nighy Bill Nighy, Jim Broadbent, Steve Coogan, Bill Bailey, Kevin Eldon, Edward Woodward, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Timothy Spall and Paul Freeman all provide top-class performances and look like they are having the time of their lives doing it. A special mention has to go to Timothy Dalton who manages to put in a performance so evil, and so camp, that you wouldn’t be surprised if he donned a top hat and cape and attempted to tie a beautiful maiden to the railway tracks. It seems that the second best Bond (or maybe third now that Daniel Craig is on the scene) can also cut it as a super-market super-villain.

After their massive success with Shaun Of The Dead, Director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have romped home again with this awesome action-comedy. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll want to join the police force. Hot Fuzz delivers a top movie-going experience from beginning to end and, like Shaun of the Dead, the DVD is an extras-packed extravaganza. Add Hot Fuzz to your list right now!