Movie: "Hot Fuzz"
Year: 2007
Rated: R
Genre: Action / Adventure
Directed by: Edgar wright
Writing credits: Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg

Reviewer: Dr. Boogie
Posted: 4/7/2008

Plot: Supercop Nicholas Angel has been reassigned by his jealous collegues to the quaint little town of Sandford. Angel is annoyed by the local constabulary's lax approach to law enforcement, but soon suspects that there may be more to this quiet country town than meets the eye...

Review: The film was billed as being "from the creators of 'Shaun of the Dead'", and it definitely delivers on that claim. The movie uses the same black humor as Shaun, and throughout the film, you'll see the same sort of little callbacks seen in Shaun. Nick Frost even reprises his role as the dumb best buddy-type character from Shaun, whereas Simon Pegg's character is the absolute opposite, having drive and athleticism in place of baseless determination and, let's say, heart.

Overall, I loved the movie. The humor is a nice mix of the subtle and the silly, and the movie makes suitable mockeries of action movie clichés. The one thing that struck as odd about the parodying was the references to Point Break. The very first reference pokes fun at one of the more ridiculous moments from the film (and not Keanu Reeves shouting "I am an FBI agent!"), but when they callback to that same reference, it's treated with unexpected seriousness. Far more seriousness than should be given to a movie about surfing FBI agents and bank robbers.

The other thing that struck me about the movie was the long action sequence at the end of the film (I don't think saying that there is one isn't much of a spoiler, seeing as the commercials for the movie consisted almost entirely of footage from said sequence). It was funny, and it worked as a fairly legitimate action sequence, but it just didn't seem quite in line with the tone of humor set by the rest of the film, focusing more on parody than the more subtle humor. Granted, it would be difficult to use much subtle humor in the midst of a gunfight, but the transition is still a little jarring.

But I don't want it to seem like I have any real problems with the film. They did the exact same thing at the end of Shaun of the Dead, only with horror instead of action. That said, you owe it to yourself to see this movie if you're a Shaun of the Dead fan. It's a lot like this movie, have I mentioned that?

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)