How do you follow up to the critical acclaim Shaun Of The Dead? That was the scenario for Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and director Edgar Wright after setting a true high standard in film making with a romantic comedy featuring zombies.
And yet the former Spaced team has done the impossible and managed to create a film that feels fresh with new jokes and clever references to other action movies.
Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, one of the finest police officer in London. He is so good at his job, that he makes everyone in the police force look bad. So his superiors decided to send him off to a place where his talents won’t be quite so embarrassing – the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford, where there hasn’t been a recorded murder for twenty years.
Once there, Angel meets an enthusiastic police officer named Danny Butterman (played by Nick Frost). Danny is a huge fan of action movies and after a few drinks with his new partner; he invites Angel back to watch a couple of his favourite cop films.
Danny believes that Angel has seen all kind of action in the big city including gunfights and car chases. But he stressed the point that this wasn’t the case.
All this changed when a series of grisly “accidents” rocked the village. Angel becomes suspicious that all these were linked somehow but no one believed him – apart from Danny.
Angel sets out to investigate and was shocked to discover that a secret organisation named NWA (not the rap group, but Neighbourhood Watch Alliance) was behind all these accidents.
The NWA members were murdering anyone who lessens the character of the village, claiming that it is for the “greater good”. But this obsession of claiming the title of Village of the Year was madness for Angel.
So Danny and Angel set out to dispatching the members of the NWA in a series of frantic and over-the-top gunfights. That’s one way of settling the matter!
Hot Fuzz is packed full of references, which will take multiple viewings to catch. Director Edgar Wright’s continuous use of quick cuts moves the action at a rapid pace but for the viewer, it’s an entertaining ride in this 120-minute movie.
Both Pegg and Frost certainly make this film worthwhile due to their chemistry together. They are good mates in real life and it shows on-screen.
But it was ex-Bond star Timothy Dalton who stole the limelight. To see the former spy playing the sinister Mr Skinner with a moustache twirling relish!
Hot Fuzz is definitely the film of the year so far and it goes to show that the British can do Hollywood-style action movies.