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‘Hot Fuzz’ takes comic aim at Hollywood’s buddy flicks
The 60-person line 30 minutes before show time was a testament to the positive buzz surrounding the new comedy from the creators of 2004’s zombie hit ‘Shaun of the Dead.’
The loyal fans of creative partners Edgar Wright (writer/director), Simon Pegg (writer/actor) and Nick Frost (actor) were not disappointed with the trio’s latest venture.
America’s big budget, buddy-cop blow-‘em-up films have been asking for a send-up for years. The clichéd action films almost satirize themselves with their homosexual innuendo, chest-puffing and cinematic explosions. But leave it to the British to perfect the tongue-in-cheek spoofing, in what seems to equate to both homage and lampoon.
The lads who so wonderfully spoofed zombie flicks in ‘Shaun of the Dead’ take dead aim at all of the tried-and-true Michael Bay/Jerry Bruckheimer buddy action flick devices to hilarious effect. Even the editing and sound design, almost deafening at times, is straight out of big-budget Hollywood.
Nicholas Angel (Pegg) has been performing his job as a London copper a little too well for the likings of his superiors in the big city (played with nod-and-wink cameos by Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy and Steve Coogan), so he is shipped off to the place where action goes to die — the fictional Sandford.
Upon his arrival, Angel sets about applying his no-nonsense policing tactics to the small country village, cracking down on underage drinking and arresting a man for driving while intoxicated. A man who, as it turns out, is one of his fellow officers of the law.
Angel’s background as a ‘real cop’ who has been involved in high-speed chases, as well as shot at and stabbed draws the instant admiration from Danny Butterman (Frost), an overweight, bumbling buffoon who idolizes the cops he has seen portrayed in films such as ‘Point Break’ and ‘Bad Boys 2.’ Butterman finds in Angel a real-life action hero, and he constantly peppers the increasingly aggravated Angel about real stories from the force. Frost’s hilarious, deadpanned lines should be enough (at least in my eyes) to warrant a Golden Globe nomination for actor in a supporting comedic role. His puppy-dog attachment to Angel and wild-eyed emulation of the Hollywood action heroes are fodder for the best lines of the film. And despite the fact that you know when and where most of the jokes are coming, they still kill. All of them.
The story takes on a bizarre turn as Angel discovers that all in sleepy Sandford is not as it appears. Here the movie takes a bit of a dark twist, bending genres with head-scratching aplomb, but the third act seems a bit unnecessary or at least prolonged. But when a cast is having as much fun making the movie (and making fun of countless other films referenced throughout) as it seems this lot had, one can hardly blame them for wanting it to never end.
Final grade: B+
Read Statesman film critic Chris Garcia’s interview with Pegg and Frost here.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Movies
Comments
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By Bre
April 23, 2007 9:42 PM | Link to this
mmmm, Athenian Grill. mmmm, Allen Y. Chen.
By truecraig
April 24, 2007 10:11 AM | Link to this
Not quite as good as Shaun of the Dead, but I believe that has more to do with the fact that Shaun came from remote left-field, writing-wise.
Perhaps I’m not too good with the whole rhetorical analysis thing, but Bre sounds a little cannibalistic in her comment.