Tony Thio
In 2004, director and co-writer Edgar Wright, co-writer Simon Pegg and actor Nick Frost defined a whole new genre of geek cinema with Shaun of the Dead, a film that paid homage to classic horror with wit and creativity that snowballed into richly deserved recognition, achieving instant cult status in the process. 3 years later, the trio is back with Hot Fuzz, a film that parodies typical Hollywood cop movies with such inventive brilliance that in one whole package, manages to go one-up on Shaun of the Dead.
While Shaun of the Dead drew its inspiration mainly from zombie films, especially the ones by George Romero, Hot Fuzz casts its net a lot wider, taking in every action thriller that features buddy cops and combines them all together with a British perspective. In short, it is like putting together 1997’s Midsomer Murders and 2003’s Bad Boys II, but more, as the film makers embrace all that is spectacular and entertaining about the typical over-the-top action-packed blockbuster (think 1991’s Point Break) and give it their own ingenious twist.
Through a series of very quick cuts, we’re introduced to Sergeant Nicholas Angel (co-writer Simon Pegg), a hardboiled super-cop in the London Metropolitan Police Service with an arrest record 400% higher than anyone else. Intimidated by how good Angel is (that actually makes the rest of the police service look bad), his superiors (Martin Freeman, Steven Coogan and Bill Nighy) transfer him from the busy streets of London to the sleepy, picture-perfect Gluocestershire village of Sandford.
At the same time, Angel discovers that his girlfriend has left him for another man after repeated complaints of him being too attached to his job. Alone save for his beloved pot of Japanese Peace Lily, Angel arrives in Sandford to complete culture shock. Being straight-laced, Sgt Angel can hardly fit in with the local constabulary, all of whom prefer to eat cake and drink excessively than do any police work, and for a while, a missing white swan becomes the only investigative distraction for him and his partner, bumbly Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), the son of Inspector Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent). Danny’s obsessed with action films (wait till that scene when he displays his massive collection of DVDs – you WILL be shocked), and believes that Angel is his chance to live out his dreams of high speed car chases and jump-out-of-vehicle gunfights.
Apart from rounding up under-aged teenagers at the local pub and fending off derogatory insults from the village’s laidback, smarmy detectives (Rafe Spall and Paddy Considine), there’s nothing much for Angel to do but sit in the police car watching Danny wolf down Cornetto ice cream cones, water his Japanese Peace Lily and nurse his cranberry juice nightcap at the local pub daily.
And then things take a sharp turn when dead bodies start accumulating and Angel’s cop sense is pricked as he goes on a rampage of justice. A super-cop can’t have murders happening so frequently in his precinct, can he? What happens next only showcases the film’s intriguing plot (kudos to the scriptwriting talents of both Wright and Pegg) with many twists and turns that, while appearing outrageous sometimes, are still linear, grounded and extremely hilarious. At the screening that I attended, everyone in the audience was roaring with laughter.
As mentioned, Hot Fuzz is a film crafted to take everything from every action film from Jackie Chan’s Police Story to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator series and pushing them further, appearing both ridiculous and awesome at the same time, a feat that Wright directs to amazing finesse. Even the simple act of doing paperwork is given a frenetic tension and pace that draws you further into what is going on.
The characters are exaggerated. And it’s not just Frost’s innocent, super-cop worshipping sidekick, but also Timothy Dalton’s over-the-top uber villian role. The action sequences are exciting, fast-paced and have a surprising degree of rough street justice, like when the old woman gets a kick to the face that can only come from a karate exponent.
The dialogue range from clever Pegg-Frost exchanges (“Point Break or Bad Boys II?” “Which one do you think I’ll prefer?” “No, I mean which one do you wanna watch first?”) to repeated lines of Frost’s “Want anything from the shop” when all he ever gets is Cornetto and all Pegg ever does is grunt a no, except that once when he asks for a Cornetto, which then leads to a spectacularly funny exchange of dialogue about brain-freeze. And David Arnold has certainly done very well with the music accompaniment that is perfectly balanced between slow guitar pieces and action-scene fast-and-furious rock songs.
It’s a star-studded cast that adds shine to the already brilliant script. Featuring the acting talents and amazing chemistry between Pegg and Frost, the cast list also has venerable British actors including Timothy Dalton as supermarket manager Simon Skinner and Jim Broadbent as Sandford Inspector Frank Butterman. Oscar-winner Bill Nighy puts in a short but memorable performance as Metropolitan Chief Inspector Kenneth, and Paul Freeman (Belloq from Raiders of the Lost Ark) as Reverend Philip Shooter add to some of the shine. There are also 2 Oscar winners (Cate Blanchett and Peter Jackson) in blink and you miss it cameos that everyone should keep a look out for.
Overall, Hot Fuzz is one of the most enjoyable cinematic experiences that I’ve sat through so far this year and if action movies or comedy is your thing, then make sure you don’t miss Hot Fuzz, an action-comedy so well-written, brilliantly directed and filled with so much witty dialogue that makes it an intelligently ridiculous film that you’ll want to watch at least twice.
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Movie Details:
Opens: June 21
Running Time: 121mins
Rating: NC16
Genre: Crime / Comedy / Action
Cast:Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton
Director: Edgar Wright