Hot Fuzz

I went to see Hot Fuzz last Saturday night. A quality piece of action film making and British to boot. That's not to say it doesn't owe more than a passing nod to films like Lethal Weapon and Bad Boys. The tone of the film is great, the comedy bits are ace, the action bits are outstanding and the geek moments are there in spades. There are two stand out moments of gore that a Braindead era Peter Jackson would be proud of, both of which you can see coming a mile off and are all the more hilarious for it. The best bit has to be Adam Buxton's screen demise, which plays on the Omen and is just so wonderfully disgusting that it merits an award of it's own. The supporting cast is pretty much all of Pegg and director Edgar Wrights' mates, plus every spare British actor that was available, but this is no bad thing. (I do wonder though if Bill Nighy is contractually obliged to appear in every Working Title Film ever made. I hear they're going to digitally add him to Four Weddings and a Funeral.)

 

I was a bit worried it was going to be more like Cannon and Ball in Boys in Blue, but Simon Pegg and Nick Frost do not disappoint, and they're backed up with an impressive supporting cast. What the cock am I writing, eh? Just go and see it. If you hated Spaced and Shaun of the Dead, it's probably not going to float your boat. Though it is probably the funniest thing they've done. The story is wilfully daft in places, but extremely clever too. Everything gets used and no plot line is wasted in tying up all the loose ends at the finish. My only criticism would be that some of the editing is a bit garish. I don't know whether this is a nod to Michael Bay or action films in general, but the jump-cut editing that worked so well on Spaced is hard on the eyes on the big screen.

 

Blimey, it's hard work talking about a film without giving anything away, so I'll finish by mentioning that when Timothy Dalton's character asks for some ice cream near the end I was crying with laughter. It's that good, okay?