Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Hot Fuzz ( 2007 )

Movie night with the significant other and we were staring down three choices :

  • Rise of the Silver Surfer ( Think I will just ermm borrow this from the internet video library ahem .. )
  • Oceans 13 ( After all the lukewarm reviews ... no thanks )
  • Hot Fuzz
So we settled for Hot Fuzz seeing how it was the logical and only watchable choice of the list. She had no history going into this movie so was just happy to go along for the ride. I was however approaching this movie with trepidation .. I was worried. I really liked Shaun of the Dead by Wright so I didn't really relish the idea of spoiling my experiences with that movie in the event if Hot Fuzz bombed. I did catch a bit of the beginning scenes of Hot Fuzz from browsing around in the Internet Movie Store ... and it didn't look that good, so I went in with mixed feelings. I am glad I took the chance ! It was great !! It took a while warming up, but once thrust in the thick of the action both of us just couldn't help but love this movie.



This time around Simon Pegg of the SOTD fame is Sergeant Nicholas Angel ( Check out the name ! ), a decorated and by the book cop who gets relegated to a small town because his high arrest rates and impeccable record was making his superiors and fellow officers look bad. Life in the small town looks deceptively calm but is there something more than meets the eye ? Together with PC Danny Butterman, son of the town's police chief ( Nick Frost ), they crack case wide open Bad Boys style !



While in SOTD, director Wright pays his homage to the horror genre, here every scene, nuance, dialog, Hot Fuzz pays tribute to the action genre. Be forewarned, if you walk in to this movie expecting a spoof of action movies you will be disappointed. While it is a funny movie, it was not made in the spirit of a spoof. Rather what you have here a team of writer and director that love the action genre and Hot Fuzz is their way of showing their adulation for it. Right from Bad Boys2 to Point Break every major movie in the action genre is given a tip of the hat to. Every is classic action movie stuff right from the amplified ambient noise to the slick editing. Even the plot has a typical action movie feel to it. I like how in the middle of the movie the plot is actually "simplified" to make this fit in the action genre when Timothy Dalton explains to Sergeant Angel that his the case that he is investigating is not really as complex as he thinks and everything is a lot simpler than he thinks.



The actions scenes weren't lacking too as bullets flew all around the screen while our two heroes were blasting away in slo mo across the screen dodging bullets and firing firing the pieces away ... Yeah ! Full marks from Head Master Bruckheimer !! For fun, try to pick out the scenes where the movie gives a nod to SOTD. As far as the acting goes, Pegg and Frost have good chemistry and hit off well with each other. While Simon and Nick might not be the most good looking of blokes, they have enough screen charisma to have you rooting for them after just 20 minutes into the show. The rest of the cast are great too with cameo appearances by well known UK tv actors and actresses.



Thanks Mr. Wright, you really did not let me down with your second outing. Now I can happily add Hot Fuzz to my collection right next to Die Hard and Rambo !



I say if you are looking for a good movie to see and don't want to go the way of all the so-called block busters invading our cinemas, give Hot Fuzz a try. You definitely won't go wrong. Now you got to excuse me while I go for another reviewing of Shaun of the Dead ...



Rating : 7.5/10



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