Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is a hilarious new comedy from the makers of Shaun of the Dead. But where Shaun succeeded due to a strong structure which borrowed heavily from both the zombie genre and the romantic comedy, Hot Fuzz parodies action films and is slightly less successful.

Top London cop Nicholas Angel is so good at his job that he's putting the rest of the police force to shame. For this, he is sent away to patrol the sleepy village of Sandford. But before long grisly happenings start to take hold and Angel faces his biggest challenge yet. Mwa-ha-ha!

The central conceit of the film is that these ridiculously outlandish events take place in such an idyllic location. This is like Michael Bay directing an episode of Emmerdale. So we get shootouts in local supermarkets, murders at church fetes, and a climactic showdown in a model village (for non UK-residents, you'll find these small-scale villages are quite ridiculously common in Ol' Blighty).

Yes, it's all very funny. But in a film which is purely two hours of gags, don't expect any pathos. What you get instead is a bunch of the best of English comedic actors all joining in on what sometimes feels like an extended inside joke. They enjoy themselves, however, especially Timothy Dalton as a wonderfully over-the-top moustached bad(ish) guy. The two leads Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as Sgt. Angel and local bobby Danny Butterman respectively, have great 'chemistry' and play up the homoerotic undertones so prevalent in films like Top Gun or Bad Boys. Brilliant.

Fans of Shaun's blood and guts can relax. It's reassuring to see director Edgar Wright retain a love of gore as a series of killings become increasingly gruesome. In fact, Hot Fuzz still bears the hallmarks of a cult favourite but has already broken through to a mainstream audience (straight to number one in UK cinemas).

The creative team has been working together since their days on TV's Spaced. The frenetic editing style with inventive wipes and transitions is still on display here. It's a bit tiring though, and after a while all the flashy editing and loud noises begin to irritate rather than entertain. I felt it was a bit like a two-hour 48HOUR competition film, just with a bigger budget.

But I'm a huge fan of these guys, so I won’t get carried away with the negatives. It’s way funnier than any of this Talledega Nights crap and very much worth the ticket price.