Director: Edgar Wright
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Martin Freeman, Paddy Considine, Timothy Dalton, Steve Coogan, Alexander King, Bill Nighy, Stuart Wilson

- Reviewed by Vickie

Hilarious.

Smart.

Clever.

Imaginative.

Wry.

Sly.

Hot Fuzz is all of those things and more. And I loved it. The first ten minutes alone are worth the price of admission.

Co-written by director Edgar Wright and star Simon Pegg, this action-comedy has the same irreverent, razor-sharp humor that made Shaun of the Dead a hit, and uses that winning formula – turning a genre on its ear with a distinctive British flavor – to knock this one of the multiplex.

Pegg is Sgt. Nicholas Angel, a London cop with a beyond-stellar record. He’s a one-man crime-fighting machine, the best at everything he does and he’s single-handedly brought down the crime rate in the city. He’s so good that his superiors feel he’s actually making the rest of the force look bad, so they reassign him to the remote village of Sanford, where the most pressing “crimes” are illegal hedge trimming and missing waterfowl. But as soon as Angel arrives, people start dying...in gruesome, graphic (clearly a nod to Shaun) ways. The chief inspector (Jim Broadbent) is sure the deaths are accidents; the two department detectives (Paddy Considine, Rafe Spall) concur; and Angel’s well-meaning partner, Danny (Pegg’s Shaun co-star, Nick Frost), is too busy studying every action movie ever made to actually do his job. Something’s amiss in the town – did I mention Timothy Dalton as the world’s skeeviest grocery-store manager? – and Sgt. Nicholas Angel is determined to get to the bottom of it!

Thoroughly enjoyable from the opening credits through to the final frame, Hot Fuzz is the first truly amazing comedy of the year. It’s packed to overflowing with in-jokes and subtle references and brilliant asides, and every single set-up gets a payoff, even it comes much later on. Pegg and Frost are an incredible onscreen pair, and their knowing wink at the HoYay! common to films in the action/crime-drama genre (specifically Point Break) was great. Their longing looks and double entendres elicited some of the biggest laughs from the audience. The supporting players – including some impressive, uncredited cameo performers – are just as good. And the film’s climactic battle scene is truly a never-before-seen sight to behold. It’s just all good, all the time.

The remainder of the comedies being released in 2007 will have to work hard to outdo this one. Hot Fuzz has set the bar very, very high. And, for that, I’m blissfully grateful.

Official Movie Site

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