In parody films, especially the ones made nowadays, instead of laughing, we roll our eyes to our heads and wish the credits would arrive sooner. Comedy now is never comedic. Cheers to the lampoonery by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright for saving the day. HOT FUZZ is a breath of fresh air amid repugnant movie-parodies (I am shouting at you SCARY MOVIES, DATE MOVIES and EPIC MOVIES!). Proven right, there’s still some great humour left in the world, and bless the Brits for sharing us the fun and entertainment.


Simon Pegg, known as unlucky, sympathetic Shaun in the delightful SHAUN OF THE DEAD (whom he had written as well with director Edgar Wright), now stars as Nicholas Angel, a hotshot policeman in London brimming with a fantastic record that would make crime-doers shake with fright. However, he battles the fact that he’s just way too good and must be about a hundred times better than his job mates, not to mention the Chief Police (Bill Nighy). Obviously intimidated by Angel’s too-goodness, they dispatch and assign him into a remote country village of Sandford where the worst crime that was ever recorded was a swan’s escape. Everybody’s too friendly, too green, and too cheerful. Even the presence of minors in a local pub seemed normal, as Angel throws them out single-handedly. One of them happens to be a copper himself, Dan Butterman (Nick Frost, that same corpulent bloke from SHAUN) and the son of the village police chief (Jim Broadbent). Together they impose rules in the village of no crimes at all, and start chasing escaped swans over fences.


But strange accidents started occurring, claiming the lives of the villagers one by one and Angel believes there’s something going on. As Danny himself is a maniacal fan of bullet-shooting actioners of LETHAL WEAPON, POINT BREAK and BAD BOYS, he craves for some slam-bang action he never experienced before and while Angel wanted to prove himself to the village that knows little of him, they both set out to uncover a Lynchian mystery with the deaths involving pub landlords, clergyman and other villagers in the world’s most unbelievable secret organization, leading to a full-throttle smashing, ka-powing, eye-popping action sequence of a climax so hilariously overwrought that makes you stop your clock and enjoy the silly entertainment. This is their homage to Bruckheimer and his explosions, to the swagger of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence of BAD BOYS, to Bruce Willis’ John McClane in DIE HARD films, to Keanu Reeves’ gun-shooting-in-the-air while screaming “Aaaaarrrgh!” in POINT BREAK, and a whole lot more.


Yep, this is a parody and even though it pays homage to loads of action films, it stays fresh with its plot and crisp with its witty, razor-edged script and clever one-liners. It’s absolutely exaggerated that would make you shake your head in funny disbelief but it’s the screenplay that’s intelligent and it has a story that’s generally crazy but highly a guilty pleasure to watch. Edgar Wright directs with a kind of filmmaking that never sleazes or bores, and uses zap, no-nonsense editing that staggers the senses. It’s very much like SHAUN OF THE DEAD with sequences that is both funny, heartfelt and sometimes over the top. Simon Pegg, while brandishing a fragile but fun act in SHAUN, delivers a very controlled character that balances head-held-up-high career to embarrassing dislocation in a village. He’s everything movie stars are made off, never daunted by very high fences or pointed spires. Also, Nick Frost comfortably compliments Pegg as the crappy cop and shows comedic finesse despite of his massive self.


HOT FUZZ is not better than SHAUN OF THE DEAD. This Britcom is as good as the zombie spoof; it doesn’t stick on copying scenes from other films but does use very creative action-movie filmmaking style that gives this a unique blend of comedy, action, humour, mystery and everything out of this world. This collaboration of Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright will surely bring them out of the remote places and into the global mainstream. Just don’t expect you’ll be laughing all the time while watching HOT FUZZ because it’s not a gag show – it’s a grandstand of unique cinema-making, entertaining blips, enjoyable characters and British humour that would appeal only to people with sense.


It’s one of 2007’s most entertaining films so far.




RATING: B+


2007 (c) J.S.Datinguinoo