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Hot Fuzz
Directed by: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg
Genre:
Comedy/ Action-Adventure
Run Time: 121
min.
Release Date:
April 2007
On The Web:
Official
Site
Teaser:
Movie Trailer
Reviewed by
Byron Merritt |
If you
enjoyed SHAUN
OF THE DEAD, you’re going to feel an irresistible pull
toward HOT FUZZ. Done in similar fashion and with familiar names,
Hot
Fuzz is an action flick that loves to take jabs at those cop and western
films we so loved growing up with. Everything from PALE RIDER (an old
Clint Eastwood film) to BAD BOYS is referenced in some fashion, and they
will most likely tickle your funny bone.
Instead of deadbeat zombies, though, this time we’ve got a sleepy little
town with a deadly secret. Feeling very STEPFORD WIFE-ish, a highly
successful police officer named Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is forced
out of his undefeated duties as London cop-extraordinaire and into the
dull and mundane town of Sandford. Partnered with the chubby and inept
Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), Officer Angel learns to slow down but not
before discovering a few strange things about his new town. They’ve won,
every year for some time now, an award for being the best town in
England. Not much to argue with there. But Nick Angel soon sees death
lurking here and there (and when I say death, I mean scythe and all!)
Townsfolk are cut down and the local constabulary simply wave them off
as accidents. But to Nick these are not plain old mishaps.
A conspiracy theory soon engulfs Nick’s solo investigation and we find
our lone hero riding a pale horse into town while loaded for bear (queue
whistling Eastwood soundtrack here). The big question, though, is can he
trust his lame partner, Danny, to back him.
Battles and bloodshed fill the screen as Nick finds himself at odds with
everyone in Sandford. From blowing away the clergy to drop-kicking an
octogenarian in the face, Nick has his arms, legs and other appendages
busy keeping himself alive as much as solving these supposed murders.
There are a ton of great lines in the film, showing that writer/actor
Simon Pegg has some significant screenwriting abilities (one of my
favorite lines was after Nick and Danny watched Bad Boys and Nick said,
“Well, I wouldn't argue that it wasn't a no holds barred, adrenaline
fueled thrill ride. But there is no way you can perpetrate that amount
of carnage and mayhem and not incur a considerable amount of paperwork.”
And I enjoyed Danny’s, “By the power of Greyskull!” moments, too.)
Making parodies of previously serious or scary films seems to be Pegg’s
and Frost’s forte. And they do it exceptionally well. Although I think
Shaun of the Dead is the gauge by which their future works will be
judged, including this one, I also think they’ve hit upon something that
isn’t bathroom humorish like the SCARY MOVIE films/franchise. The
dialogue and action fit together well and are meant for those who enjoy
their laughter with a little more thought and quite a few in-jokes.
I still hold Shaun of the Dead as a much more entertaining film, but
this one rates up there well enough, too.
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Image from Hot Fuzz
DVD cost: $19.99
Purchase:
BestPrices.com
Film Review Stew
Favorite? No.
Stew Poo-Poo? No.
Newsworthy:
In "Shaun of the Dead,"
Nick Frost's character Ed is said to have shot his sister in the leg
with an air rifle, in this film he shoots the doctor in the leg with an
air rifle.
Movie Quote: "Is
it true that there's a place in man's head that, if you shoot it, it'll
blow up?"
Other Actors/Actresses
from Hot Fuzz
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