Hot Fuzz

Hilarious 'Shaun of the Dead' wiseacres tackle action movies

By Eric Alt | Metromix

April 20, 2007

With wits as quick as its fists, "Hot Fuzz" thoroughly satisfies. This British action comedy is particularly well-timed to hit before the impending onslaught of non-ironic summer blockbusters.

The Brit trio of Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright and Nick Frost made a huge leap across the pond with "Shaun of the Dead," a film that transcended simple zombie movie parody to prove itself as an extremely funny zombie movie (or, as it was quickly labeled, a "zom-com"). Instead of cashing in on a sequel ("From Dusk Til Shaun," maybe?) the boys take aim at a bigger target: the Jerry Bruckheimer/Michael Bay action film.

"Hot Fuzz" tells the story of London super-cop Nicolas Angel (Pegg), an officer so ahead of the curve that his underachieving colleagues quickly ship him off to the arse-end of England where he can no longer make them look bad. Arriving in the hick town of Sandford, Nic gets saddled with a bumbling dolt of a partner (Frost) and sets about doing the only thing he knows how to do: punishing criminals with extreme prejudice.

Like "Shaun," "Fuzz" plays as a spoof, a loving homage and an honest-to-god genre film all at the same time. With a budget that would cover Bruckheimer's valet tab, cowriter and director Wright mimics the look of flashy, style-over-substance actioners. In particular, "Point Break" and "Bad Boys 2" both get serious love here.

Familiar UK movie and TV faces flesh out the cast, but, appearing as a powerful Sandford businessman, Timothy Dalton pickpockets every scene he's in. His mustache-twirling turn shows why he never quite succeeded as James Bond: Dalton obviously relishes playing sinister much more than he ever did playing the hero.

All over the map in terms of content—at times, it almost becomes a horror film—"Hot Fuzz" keeps the laughs churning so hard that its appreciative audience will barely notice.