Hot Fuzz (2007)

After paying a homage to the zombie movies in “Shaun Of The Dead“, the team of director Edgar Wright and actor-writer Simon Pegg have shifted their focus to the action-comedy genre. It must not have been easy to come up with a movie that would match the brilliance of “Shaun Of The Dead”. Expectations were definitely high when this project was announced. I’d have settled for something that just matched the level of “Shaun”. However the duo of Wright and Pegg have done the most astounding thing. They have come up with a movie that’s actually better than the “Shaun”. If you thought “Shaun” was funny, watch “Hot Fuzz”. It’s miles ahead of its predecessor. The jokes are more biting, the action is more riveting and gore is more fascinating/disturbing depending on your taste in gore. This outrageously hilarious movie of a big city cop in a small town gives you everything that you’d expect from the makers of the “Shaun” : comedy, suspense, comedy, gore, comedy, adrenalin-pumping action and finally some more comedy.

PC Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the ultimate crime-fighting machine. He is one tough cop who believes in the letter of the law and is only too eager to enforce it. No wonder that his arrest record is 400 percent higher than that of his colleagues. In fact, he is so good that he is making the rest of the police force, including his seniors, look bad. So his superiors conspire to promote him to the post of Sergeant and send him off to the sleepy town of Sandford where crime rate is almost non-existent. The occasional job for a cop in Sandford includes chasing an escaped swan or telling off someone for cutting his neighbor’s hedges. Due to the non-existent crime rates, the police force there is completely laid-back. Nicholas finds himself surrounded by people who want him to just take it easy. On top of that, he is partnered with Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), the bumbling son of the Chief Inspector of Sandford. The town of Sandford is an extremely peaceful town and has won the “Village Of The Year” contest every year. This year’s contest is drawing near and that’s when Nicholas stumbles on a series of curious accidents which may not be what they seem to be. When Nicholas tries to get help from his colleagues, he is laughed at. “Murder? Oh, Come on Nicholas, The M-word hasn’t been spoken in Sandford for 20 years. Why would it be now?”. But Nicholas smells some foul play and is determined to uncover the truth. And with the help of Danny, he does.

Just as “Shaun Of The Dead” was a parody of the zombie movies, “Hot Fuzz” is of the action comedies. The trailer of the movie said that the makers of this film have seen every cop movie that was ever made. And they were not lying. There are plenty of such movie references. In one scene, Danny fires in the air in the fashion of Keanu Reeves from “Point Break”. Nicholas once cracks a dialogue from “Bad Boys II”. On more than one occasions they mock the action hero’s tendency to say a cool line before making a move. Plus the climactic battle brings to mind the flashy camera work of Mr. Bay and Mr. Woo. Jokes and gags abound making this a consistent rib-tickler. There are so many jokes happening at such a fast pace that it’s easy to lose a track of them. But don’t worry, you’ll definitely want to see this movie again. You can catch them then. Like “Shaun Of The Dead”, Wright and Pegg co-wrote this movie and they really know their stuff. And they have a lot of fun tweaking it in the wackiest manner. e.g. Many action movies use the “Buddy” formula where they team up two unlikely guys to fight the evil. The same is true with “Hot Fuzz”. The two guys teamed here couldn’t be more different that Nicholas and Danny. But Wright and Pegg has tweaked the relationship so much that it almost seems like a love affair where Danny asks Nicholas to come in for a cup of coffee, they fall asleep on the same couch while watching TV, later Nicholas goes to buy a special present for Danny. The relationship seems almost, but never quite, on the verge of being an affair. Nice way of mocking the buddy formula! Also just because it’s a comedy, that doesn’t mean director Edgar Wright is going to skimp on the gore part. Blood splattering is shown in the most vicious manner, particularly one murder in the church area is bound to make the faint-hearted…well, faint…

The acting in this movie is pure top-notch. Simon Pegg, who amazed me with his “Shaun”, is again solid as Nicholas. He shows a perfect blend of toughness and vulnerability. He is definitely an actor to watch out for. Nick Frost turns down his annoying aura from “Shaun” and comes across as a pure goofy simpleton. He is the small town cop who watches a lot of cop movies and thinks that being a policeman is all about gunfights and high-speed pursuits. So when a big-city cop like Nicholas comes to his town, he wants to know everything that Nicholas has ever done. Has he ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air? Has he ever fired one gun whilst jumping through the air? Has he fired a gun whilst in a high-speed pursuit? Has he seen Bad Boys II? Nicholas hasn’t done any of this before. But by the time he wraps up the case in Sandford, he’s done it all and more. Rest of the cast chips in brilliantly to create a perfect ensemble.

At 2 hours the movie is a tad long. There are moments when the movie seems a little sluggish. But fortunately such moments are rare. For most part, the movie breezes along toying inventively with the formulaic action-comedy movies. “Hot Fuzz” proves to be a worthy and even a better follow-up to the brilliant debut of M/S Wright and Pegg. Watch out…Here comes the fuzz……A definite contender for the Best Action-Comedy of 2007….