Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is the latest British comedy doing the rounds of the cinemas and reports were that it was actually quite funny. I'm always wary of our homegrown comedies these days, as they never seem to deliver on the preview hype. Directed by Edgar Wright, who also gave us the fairly decent Shaun Of The Dead and the excellent Spaced TV series, it stars Simon Pegg and has a fairly respectable cast so it seemed worth the risk.

Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is an exemplary Metropolitan police officer with an arrest record 400% higher than any other copper on the force. An expert in martial-arts, armed response and high-speed pursuits, he's so good he's making the rest of them look bad so his bosses transfer him to the sleepy little village of Sandford, winner of "Village Of The Year" and almost crime-free.

Once there, he's introduced to his new partner, the amiable but inept Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). Danny is a huge action movie fan and thinks that teaming up with a man experienced in the fast-paced world of firearms and fast driving might just be his ticket to real world coppering. But Danny's dad (Jim Broadbent) is the local police chief so that's never going to happen without help.

However, a series of grisly accidents rouse Angel's suspicions that Sandford isn't the quiet and peaceful place it seems to be and soon, he and Danny are up to their armpits in murder and intrigue. Danny might even get to realise his dream of shooting at the bad guys while hanging out of car in a high speed chase so it can't be all bad.

I haven't laughed as much at a comedy film for a long time. This is a classic piece of work and far better than Shaun Of The Dead. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are excellent as the heroes of the story and with a supporting cast including the likes of Jim Broadbent, Edward Woodward, Bill Nighy, Timothy Dalton, Bill Bailey and Martin Freeman it'd have been difficult for it to be anything other than a success.

Even the story is well written and, with a fairly convoluted plot, it wasn't obvious who the perpetrators were or what they were up to and you're kept guessing as to what's going on all the way up to the climactic finale (and I'm not telling you here either). Suffice to say that it well worth going to see if you get the chance. Good British comedies are few and far between these days so make the most of a good one when you can.

Genre: Action Comedy, Crime
My Rating: 9/10