FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

Sergeant Nick Angel is the best cop in London. He has the highest arrest rate on the force and continually puts his all into his job. He even loves his job more than his girlfriend, who dumps him because of his inability or unwillingness to break out of police mode while not on duty. So, what do you do with a great cop such as this? Well you transfer him to a small town with an extremely low crime rate, that’s what. After all, he’s making the rest of them look bad by doing so well. Now Nick finds himself in Sandford, where everyone knows each other and the biggest worry is a human statue that threatens to ruin their chances of winning the greatest town award. But maybe something interesting will happen, like having a serial killer on the loose.

I think I’m probably one of the few people who wasn’t particularly fond of “Shaun of the Dead,” writers Edgar Wright (also director) and Simon Pegg’s (also plays Nick) previous effort. I thought the script was lackluster and provided clever situations but few real laughs. I guess that’s why I had lower expectations that “Fuzz” would actually be “Hot.” Maybe that’s why I liked it so much. This is a vast improvement over “Shaun.”

This time the comedy team takes on buddy cop movies. You would think there would be less to play with as compared to the horror genre, but it’s not about the amount of references, it’s about the quality. “Hot Fuzz” picks a couple of specific movies to mock and spoof (“Bad Boys II” and “Point Break”) and mixes it in with all the conventions you’ve come to expect from a gun-toting action flick. It all makes for some great satire, but it doesn’t really lend itself to tons of laughs. The humor comes more from the self-aware dialogue. Even during the gun fights, you won’t go very long without laughing. Wright is very smart not to let the plot get in the way of keeping the funny flowing.

That’s not to say the plot is bad. It’s just standard, which is what it has to be for any sort of genre send-up to work. If Wright does anything wrong, it’s that he uses flashy camerawork a little too much. From this and “Shaun,” it seems to be less about making of fun of movies and more about establishing some sort of personal style. That doesn’t work for me. I don’t want glitzy jump-cut edits and fast-forwarded action and gimmicky montages unless that’s part of the genre you’re mocking, because it’s really not as cool as you think it is.

Still the bad cinematography or editing doesn’t make the film any less funny, so I can’t complain too much. I did enjoy the lack of a love story – sort of (unless you count the obvious and purposefully constructed bit between Nick and his male partner on the force), that’s a good way to keep the movie from getting bogged down. The action was nice and over-the-top, but got a tad bit boring after a little while. Still the film manages to stay consistently funny and entertaining for the two-hour running time, and you can’t beat that with a nightstick. Fans of “Shaun” should love this movie. Hell, fans of comedy should enjoy this movie.

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