Hot Fuzz (2007)

Right. Before I go on, I'd like to comment on how often English film trailers have been ruined and butchered by irritating American voiceovers. End of comment.

Alright! From the Holy Trinity of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the sacred makers of Shaun of the Dead, comes this action-packed second part of the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy - Hot Fuzz. If you're thinking 'Second part? Wait, you mean it's a sequel? Did I miss something here?' The answer is yes, and no. Yes, because it's the second Edgar Wright film to feature a Cornetto, that delicious ice-cream sold at your nearest convenience store.

A blue Classico flavour to be precise.

No, because story-wise it is completely unrelated to the first bit of the Trilogy, Shaun of the Dead, which is about zombies. The final installment, tentatively titled The World's End, is slated for future release, and besides having an apocalypse story, it also promises to feature the green chocolate-chip Cornetto cone. Edgar Wright's penchant for sweets may be none of your business but when it comes writing English comedy, this man and Simon Pegg reign as kings of Humourland (that's humor with an ou). So for those unfamiliar with with the Wright-Pegg-Frost combo, I suggest you give Shaun of the Dead a go. For starties. It may be different to Hot Fuzz, but its hilarity, level of awesomeness and love of ice-cream go well together like peas in a pod.

Now back to business.

Nicholas Angel is London Met police's very own supercop, excelling 400% over every other policemen in arrest records. He was a master at doing his job and became so good at it, he eventually got promoted - to a sleepy (and dare I say, crime-free) countryside village. "You've been making us look bad," his superior said, and off he went with his potted plant on a train to Sandford, a place where everybody knows everybody and the toughest criminal to book is the local runaway swan. That is, until a series of 'accidents' prompted Angel to find out whether they really are just accidents, or murder cases merely designed to look like one.

SWAN!

So in entity, this is exactly like a Midsomer Murders x Bad Boys crossover. You get sparkling action, gore, a truckload of English jokes and tons of references from mainstream buddy-cop movies. You even get a breathtaking view of the English countryside. With more or less a 90-minute wait before any sort of gun-totting action, the plot building may feel a tad too long for some people but I personally feel it's an acceptable move, especially with Nicholas adjusting his way of working and living from city life to a rural village.

Then there's his friendly relationship with Nick Frost's character, Danny Butterman, where despite his initial annoyance with the naive and less experienced Danny, Nicholas eventually warms up to him after several pints of beer and a movie-watching sleepover. The bonding does seem hilariously homoerotic at times, most prominently when Nicholas ran all the way to the flower shop to buy Danny a potted plant for his birthday. (Which I think is sweet, but that's just me! ♥) But that too, is essential to the plot as that's when Nicholas first encountered the 'hooded slasher' that's apparently been terrorising the village of Sandford.

Curiousity is indeed a driving force in Hot Fuzz. As you watch it, you know those are goddamn murders you're seeing and you feel how frustrating its is when everyone else dismisses them as accidents. Then when Nicholas finally finds a link between them, you think you're one step closer... Only to find that you're completely off the map and the motive of the murders are really quite simple. Very, very simple. Like 'I killed her because she had an annoying laugh' kind of simple. It's absurdly hilarious, but that's Edgar Wright for ya.

That's MISTER Wright to you, assholes.

The action in Hot Fuzz is just like any other cop movie, but what differs is the extended humour embedded into them. During the build-up, Danny Butterman has made a thousand references to action cliches ("Have you ever fired a gun whilst jumping through the air?", "Ever fired a gun in the air and yelled Aaah?") and when it finally happens the scenes are executed remarkably without being overly parodied or cheesy, and altogether it's shockingly funny and very, very cool.

Hot Fuzz is a film that's warranted repeated viewing because it's British comedy at best, and you are guaranteed to smile, giggle, snigger, cackle and even wet your pants laughing over it.