Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz

Watch Out! The Fuzz Will Get You!

The guys who brought us Shaun of the Dead are back in “Hot Fuzz”. This time, however, in lieu of annihilating zombies and hanging out at their favorite pub (well, actually, the pub part is still in there), Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are cops in the sleepy little village of Sandford.

Sergeant Nicholas Angel (Pegg) is a London cop who loves his job and does it well. In fact, a little too well. His superiors, who include Metropolitan Chief Inspector Kenneth (Bill Nighy), decide to have him transferred to the small town of Sandford where he’s partnered with the bumbling police officer Danny Butterman (Frost), who happens to be slightly obsessed with action “buddy” films such as “Bad Boys” and “Point Break”.

Angel soon finds himself at wits end in Sandford, where the biggest obstacles are tracking down the runaway swan and having to sit through the local acting troupe’s version of “Romeo & Juliet”, not the play, the movie!

The town isn’t as ideal as it seems when several of the town’s citizens meet a gruesome demise. When the deaths are quickly ruled “accidental”, Angel becomes increasingly suspicious and is convinced there is foul play involved. Will Nick and Danny unravel the mystery or will they be swept up in the “greater good” of the community? Where does Simon Skinner (Timothy Dalton), one of Sandford’s most prominent citizens, figure into all this? You’ll have to watch “Hot Fuzz” to find out.

There were plenty of things to like about the movie. To me, “Hot Fuzz” seemed like a combination of “Lethal Weapon” (the buddy/cop film), “Scream” (the whole murderer who wears a cloak thing) and just a bit of “Desperado” (the climactic “shoot out” scene).

I also liked the plot twists. Just when you were convinced that you knew exactly what was going on or who was doing what, the movie proved you wrong. When the true motives are revealed, we realize that what we thought were the reasons behind the murders were more conniving and more planned out than what actually happened.

Another enjoyable part of the movie was the accompanying soundtrack. Not only was the song selection excellent, but in many cases, they add to the comedy on screen. For instance, the song “Fire” by Arthur Brown is playing in Skinner’s car when he passes the crime scene where one of the town’s unfortunate citizens had his house blown up.

The only down side for me was the length of the film. At just over two hours, I thought the movie dragged a little in the middle. The last 30 to 45 minutes were faster paced and what happens during that time wouldn’t have “gelled” without those few extra minutes in the middle.

“Hot Fuzz” is a decent film. You’ll laugh at the funny parts, and even the ones that are meant to be not so funny.

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