Hot Fuzz

It has been encouraging and surprising to see the rise of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright in recent years. I have been a fan ever since they hit the screen with Spaced and when the hit the big-time with their zombie rom-com Shaun of the Dead back in 2005. That film was a major revelation for many people, and a lot of pressure has been lauded on the teams follow up. Well you can put any fears you may have aside, Hot Fuzz is every bit as enjoyable and confident as its predecessor and stands as one of the most entertaining films released in recent times.

Pegg and Frost again take centre stage, but it is nice to see the riffing on their characters from Shaun of the Dead, and it’s a bit strange at first to see Pegg as the straight laced Inspector Nicholas Angel, a character far removed from his usual slacker types. However he acquits himself admirably and convinces as a hard nosed copper, whilst retaining his innate likeability. This is largely thanks to Nick Frost whose Danny provides the heart of the film, he creates such an endearing version of the ‘simpleton’ character that you grow a real attachment to him and the other residents of the sleepy village of Sanford that Angel is re-assigned to. As with Shaun the characters are placed in a situation where something is not quite right and the team really nail the creepy atmosphere that lurks behind the humour and once again they do not scrimp on the gore and horror as well as the laughs, something that separates the film from other comedy films. Truth be told the film is a blend of genres, managing to brilliantly parody the entire action film / buddy cop genre without ever reporting to obvious jokes or observations. Just like Shaun of the Dead was the team’s homage to the classic zombie movies, this is their tribute to films such as point Break and Bad Boys, only with a distinctively British twist that is handled brilliantly.

Edgar Wright has a very cinematic directing style and has done since the days of Spaced and here he again has created a wonderful looking and structured film. The pacing is note perfect and his trademark transitions again suit the atmosphere created. The only slight criticisms I do have are that the film suffers from the Hollywood shaky editing syndrome when the action hits towards the end, something a bit less chaotic would have been easier to follow – but maybe that was the point.

Many will compare this film to Shaun and while it may not feel as fresh as that film did a couple of years ago this is a great follow up and proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that this group of people are some of the most talented to come out of the British filmmaking industry in a long time, and long may it continue.

As entertaining a film as you could hope for this is packed full of great dialogue, performances and intrigue and its clever blend of action thriller and Wicker Man style village-with-a-secret mythology works despite itself. Apart from a couple of issues with the ending this proves that Shaun wasn't a one off and that the British film industry is still alive and kicking.