Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)We are very nearly through the first half of 2007 and I'm happy to report that HOT FUZZ is easily the funniest movie that I have seen so far this year. I loved Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's previous film, SHAUN OF THE DEAD, and am delighted to report that this is every bit as funny at that one, if not funnier.
The film concerns a highly decorated London police officer who is so good at his job that he is shunted off to an assignment in the country because he is so good he makes the rest of the force look bad. Sanford would seem to be an impossibly idyllic place, winner several times of the top village in England award. But it is a town that houses mysteries, which our hero Nick Angel gradually uncovers. Most of the film should be predictable, but it is a credit to Wright and Pegg that it isn't. Even the big ending, the week point in most such movies, is a delight. Despite a lot of action and special effects and explosions it is never taken over by them. It remains fresh and surprising to the very end. Although the plot is surprisingly interesting for a comic romp, this would be a fun film without it. The gags are consistently brilliant throughout and every one is executed marvelously. This is a much slicker film than SHAUN OF THE DEAD was, though that wasn't in any way unpolished.
The cast is a large one and they manage to bring the village of Sandford to life in convincing fashion. Pegg is paired with Nick Frost, his costar in SHAUN OF THE DEAD. The cast is littered with well-known actors such as Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton, Edward Woodward, Billie Whitelaw, Bill Nighy, Stephen Merchant, and Martin Freeman as well as a rich and varied cast of lesser-known performers. The great thing about this is that the actors really enhance the film. What I mean is that the success of SHAUN OF THE DEAD meant that they could hire a cast of better-known performers. Sometimes this can lead to a decline in the quality of projects (watch Robert Rodriguez's EL MARIACHI and DESPERADO back to back and you'll see how a no name cast can free up a director while a big name cast can inhibit one), but that absolutely didn't happen here.
The film is littered with in jokes and cultural references. There are also a number of references to SHAUN OF THE DEAD, but it isn't important to get any of these to enjoy the movie. There are also, according to Edgar Wright, a couple of nice cameos, though we have to take his word for it since neither is recognizable. The crazed Santa that stabs Angel near the beginning of the film is, says Wright, Peter Jackson, while his ex-girlfriend Jeanine is Cate Blanchett. Again, we have to take his word for it because her entire scene is played with a surgical mask over her face so that all we see are a pair of eyes that do indeed look like they could belong to Cate Blanchett.
As anyone can tell, I loved this movie. I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone.
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HOT FUZZ - DVD Movie
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