Cop That!!! (Hot Fuzz (Special Edition, 2 DVDs))

Member Name: NikkiH

Product:	Hot Fuzz (Special Edition, 2 DVDs)
Date:	22/03/08 (88 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Witty, entertaining

Disadvantages: Slightly too long

As a rule, I am often disappointed by British comedies. So frequently they rely on the lead character being a bumbling idiot (see most Hugh Grant roles), but that format was tired and boring a long time ago. "Shaun Of The Dead" was the opposite of that, and it was hugely successful and well received by the critics. A lot of this is down to the fact that it was more americanised than the standard Brit comedy. "Hot Fuzz" sees the return of the team behind that film, and they are keen to prove that comedy can combine action with a touch of core and still be really funny. Simon Pegg teams up with Nick Frost, and his co-writer Edgar Wright takes the directorial reins of this parody of American buddy cop films.

Pegg stars as Nicholas Angel, a highly motivated and focused London policeman whose girlfriend has left him for another man. He makes so many arrests he makes the rest of The Met look bad. In order to save face, his superiors relocate him to rural sleepy Sandford, where they believe there will be no crime for him to attend to......or so they think! He gets right into the thick of the action immediately by clearing the local pub of the underage drinkers, and then his first meeting with his new partner Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), sees him locking him up for drink driving! As if that is not bad enough for Angel, he then discovers that the decided punishment for this is that Danny must buy all of his colleagues cake or ice cream, and that is clearly not justice in Angel's book, but certainly explains the low crime rate in the proudly acclaimed "Sandford - Village Of the Year"......they are barely reported even if they do occur as the locals believe in the "greater good", which you discover later.

On his first day, he is giving the mundane task of catching a missing swan, so he delves a bit deeper into the local happenings, they are lot of unexplained "accidents" happening in this apparently peaceful hamlet, and Angel's suspicion is aroused. His enquiries are met with disdain from the locals including his boss and Danny's father, Frank Butterman, played by Jim Broadbent, who are adamant that he is reading too much into the incidents due to his Met police background. Angel is not put off and persuades his partner to work with him.There are a lot of stories happening alongside the main plotline. Angel shows the wayward Butterman how to be a successful and useful police officer, when his only previous point of reference was Will Smith in Bad Boys II or Patrick Swayze in Point Break. Initially Butterman is so in awe of Angel, and when he asks him if he has ever fired a gun while jumping sideways through the air, or if it's true that if you shoot at a special spot in the brain it will make the head spectacularly explode, I started to really understand how naive this character is. He is desperate for more action in his life, so really doesn't need much encouragement from Angel to start flying around in their police car and having gunfights before they catch the villains. Their relationship develops and deepens throughout the film, and replaces any traditional love story you would normally find. The chemistry between the two of them is unmistakable, and this is what makes the comic timing happen with ease. I won't spoil the film by telling you what they uncover, but it was well thought out and extremely well written.

The cast boasts some big names including Broadbent, Cate Blanchett (blink and you miss her), Peter Jackson and Timothy Dalton (who hams it up big time), but there will be a familiar face in nearly every scene. To me, this shows the level of respect that Pegg and Wright have when successful actors willingly take bit parts in films which will do nothing to enhance their profiles. I really enjoyed the film and the many witty one liners. There is humour (not all obvious either), action, special effects and even some gore in there, so no matter what your preferred genre is there should be plenty in this film for you. I am sure I missed a lot of the humour whilst laughing so hard, so I will have to watch the film again soon. It would have been really easy for Pegg to overdo this character and make him somewhat unbelievable, but he gets the balance just right, even in the most outlandish scenes in the outrageous pantomime meets Miami Vice style shoot out which bring the film to a close just on 2 hours.
The soundtrack compliments the film well, and tracks such as "Caught by the Fuzz" by Supergrass add energy to the scenes they are carefully chosen to compliment.

This film comes highly recommended by me and I am sure it will be one you want to watch again.

+++This is the film only review as I watched it on Sky Movies not the DVD version.

Summary: Brit comedy with a difference