Film Review - Hot Fuzz

Director: Edgar WrightStarring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Bill BaileyScreenplay: Simon Pegg, Edgar WrightDistributor: UniversalRunning Time: 121 minsWhen top London cop Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is transferred to a sleepy village by his jealous superiors, he fears life is about to get very boring. Things go from bad to worse when he is partnered with bumbling yet eager Constable Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). However, when mysterious accidents start to occur, Sergeant Angel discovers that Sandford is not as pleasant and innocent as it seems...The long wait is over. Fans of Shaun Of The Dead rejoice, as Simon Pegg teams up with director Edgar Wright and co-star Nick Frost once more for the eagerly anticipated Hot Fuzz. Having successfully spoofed the Zombie-flick, the team that originally collaborated on channel four's cult sitcom, Spaced, have now turned their comedy wand on the Hollywood-buddy-action film. Think Lethal Weapon or Bad Boys, se t in the rural heart of the West Country. No, really.It's an odd combination that works well, and this is in no small part due to the comic chemistry between Pegg and Frost, as partners in crime prevention Nick Angel and Danny Butterman. The former is a hardened city cop with an exemplary record, the latter is, well, an idiot in uniform, who just happens to be the son of the chief constable. Much of the comedy revolves around this mismatch between the two characters, beginning with Sergeant Angel arresting Butterman for almost running him over whilst driving under the influence, only to later discover that the inebriated slob is in fact his new partner.For much of the first third of the film, the seemingly idyllic and humdrum backwater community of Sandford lures Angel into a false sense of security, with its obligatory church fetes, amateur dramatic societies and underage drinking dens. But this illusion is soon shattered when a series of seemingly random accidents throw Pe gg's character into the middle of a Wickerman-esque conspiracy.Edgar Wright again proves his skills for mixing deadpan, sometimes surreal comedy with fast-paced action sequences, with more rapid cut editing than you can shake a severed limb at. As with Shaun Of The Dead, the film has a healthy splattering of gore, which though comic in nature, still has the capacity to shock the faint-hearted.With an ensemble supporting cast that reads like a who's-who of British comedy and character actors- including Steve Coogan, Timothy Dalton (who is superb in his role as a charismatic yet sinister Somerfields store manager), Bill Bailey and Jim Broadbent- Hot Fuzz packs in the gags, yet falls a little way short of providing the uproarious belly laughs and guffaws one might anticipate from such a strong comic line-up. Nonetheless, it stands as another triumph of British comedy that's as action-packed as it is witty.Verdict: Wright, Pegg and Frost do it again, proving that British comedy' s not dead, it's very much alive and kicking butt.

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