Movie Review: Hot Fuzz

I went to an advanced screening of Hot Fuzz tonight. This is from the same British team that did Shaun of the Dead, a slacker zombie film. The writer-director (Edgar Wright) and two stars (Simon Pegg, also a co-writer and Nick Frost) were there and took questions. Wright described this film as Agatha Christie getting it roughly in the rear from Michael Bay. It was an absolute riot.

The movie opens with a description of London Police Officer Nicholas Angel. He's a supercop with a great record. In fact, it's so great he's making the rest of the force look bad. So he's promoted to Sergeant and moved out into the country to the idyllic village of Sandford. His first night there (before he starts working) he throws a dozen kids out of a pub for underage drinking, arrests a man for drunk driving, another for public urination, and several others. He's an overachiever. He's a bit disappointed the next day as he learns that there's no crime in Sandford and the police force is to him, not taking their jobs seriously. His partner, Danny Butterman is a fan of action cop films and looks up to Angel and his London record. However he's disappointed that this real life hero hasn't done the various things his film heroes have. Their days are filled with catching an escaped swan and dealing with a farmer who's chopping other peoples' hedges. Then some fatal accidents happen and Angel suspects foul play.

The previous summary is just the beginning of the film and doesn't do it justice. The script is just brilliant, without a single wasted line or scene. There are constant funny one liners, and then it gets self-referential about them. Then it becomes an all out action film, that's still riotously funny (spoof isn't quite the right word). And there's a mystery in there with a few nicely done twists. There's also a great supporting cast including: Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Bill Nighy, Edward Woodward, and even a 3 second cameo by Peter Jackson (of Lord of the Rings fame) as a killer Father Christmas. For the squeamish there are a few very bloody scenes, but they are all quick and done mostly for comic shock value. There are a lot of references to action films, particularly Point Break and Bad Boys 2, but if you're not up on them, they show clips in the film so you can follow along.

See this film in the theater, it's great with a crowd. Then see it again on DVD to catch the lines you missed. It's great fun and you'll enjoy it. Again and again. I know I will.