Movie Review- Hot Fuzz

Go see Hot Fuzz!

For those of you not in the know, this isn't a 70s porn film though you might guess so from the title. Instead, its an action-adventure cops show with many references both blatant and subtle to many of the movies in the same genre. It’s a parody but its played straight and for that it is all the funnier.

The story is about Nicholas Angel, a London police officer so dedicated to the job and law and order that his arrest record is making everybody else on the department look bad. Angel is reassigned to Sandford, a sleepy country village; the Voted Best Village, where there is apparently no crime and nothing to police. There Angel meets up with the rest of the local constabulary, the appeasing Police chief inspector Butterman, his bumbling and action movie addicted constable son, two 80s vintage non-functioning detectives and the rest, all of whom seem to spend most of their time eating sweets in the station house.

Nothing much seems to happen in Sanford and the biggest bit of policework initially involves an escaped swan. He is ridiculed by his cohorts on the department for his diligence and pitied by the local citizens. Eventually, over too many beers and some action movies from his partner Danny's collection, they find a working relationship that is put to the test later on.

Danny is keen to find some real excitement, some police work like he has watched on his vast DVD collection of cop-buddy movies like Bad Boys, Lethal Weapon and Miami Vice while Angel is just trying to stay alert and catch bad guys without any drama. Eventually, Angel policeworks himself into the middle of the real story behind Sandford's bucolic beauty which isn't what he expected to find at all. But odd accidents keep occuring, killing a number of the citizens in gruesome ways and Angel begins to believe that these accidents are really murders.

In the final portion of this movie, circumstances go completely crazy and all the fine, dignified, elderly citizens of Sandford show their true colors and their arsenals. These folks are armed and dangerous! Angel and Danny end up in a terrific gunfight in the townsquare and from there, car chases, hidden tunnels and bodies, explosions and fights ensue. Every scene from whatever your favorite cop movie might be is played out during the final half hour or the film.

Its hilarious in its parody. I loved it. The spouse- not so much. She thought the final half hour was tiresome. But trust me, this is a funny movie. The characters will steal your attention and when the action starts you will laugh at all the scenes that you have seen before as Danny's dream of real cop action unfolds. The irony of massively armed British citizens wasn't lost on me either since the laws over there in Jolly Ole England have in reality stolen the guns from the citizens. I really recommend this movie.