Gun Fights, Car Chases, Proper Action and Shit: Hot Fuzz (2007)

Hot Fuzz (United Kingdom, 2007) (AKA "Blue Fury", "Raging Fuzz")

Rating: ****1/2

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman

Dial 911 and get ready to say Here Comes The Fuzz!

Police Constable Nicholas Angel: born and schooled in London, graduated Canterbury University in 1993 with a double first in Politics and Sociology. Attended Hendon College of Police Training. Displayed great aptitude in field exercises, notably Urban Pacification and Riot Control. Academically excelled in theoretical course work and final year examinations. Received a Baton of Honour, graduated with distinction into the Metropolitan Police Service and quickly established an effectiveness and popularity within the community. Proceeded to improve skill base with courses in advanced driving... and advanced cycling. He became heavily involved in a number of extra-vocational activities and to this day, he holds the Met record for the hundred metre dash. In 2001, he began active duty with the renowned SO19 Armed Response Unit and received a Bravery Award for efforts in the resolution of Operation Crackdown. In the last twelve months, he has received nine special commendations, achieved highest arrest record for any officer in the Met and sustained three injuries in the line of duty, most recently in December when wounded by a man dressed as Father Christmas.

Long story short: he's effin GOOD.

Or maybe too good; some time after said Father Christmas stuck a switchblade through his palm, Nicholas is called into office to find out not only is he promoted to Sergeant, but he's also being transferred to the small and sleepy town of Sandford for reasons that he simply makes everybody else look bad in comparison. With the entire station seemingly rooting for him to move out, Nicholas has no choice but to begrudgingly comply.

Upon the first night around town, he shows his iron will to uphold the law on anybody that breaks it by shoving four underage drinkers and an overweight simpleton named Danny to the town's station, much to the distaste of the locals. Things isn't going any better for Nicholas at this point when Danny turns out to be a cop and is going to be his partner.

While trying to get used to the idea of showing up in demonstration classes for gun safety, herding lost swans, and attending terribly acted stage productions of Romeo and Juliet (with the only well acted part being the kiss), Nicholas didn't expect a sudden turn to this predicament: the night after said Romeo and Juliet play had its run, two of its main actors were savagely decapitated by an individual in a hood and cloak. The bodies are later set up in the middle of a road, made to look like as if the two had a driving accident. Almost everybody easily dismissed this as such. Almost Everybody.

Believing there's more behind the incident than a mere freak death, Nicholas Angel begins to suspect a possible serial killing when more of these accidents start popping up here and there, soon having no other choice but to trust and team up with his witless yet enthusiastic partner to stop the culprit in time before more bodies turn up decimated and mutilated.

Yeah, I'm positive this isn't a slasher film in the strictest sense but more or less a hybrid of sorts; for those who haven't seen this magnificent outing from two of my most favored comedians, Hot Fuzz (2007) is the second film of director Edgar Wright's Cornetto Trilogy, beginning with 2005's Rom-Com-Zom Shaun of The Dead and ending with 2013's scifi opus The World's End, each film starring comedians Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as buddies in a comedic parody of a particular movie sub-genre (zombies at Shaun, aliens in End), with a flavored Cornetto cone linking each entry. In Fuzz, it parodies actions flicks, particularly cop movies such as Lethal Weapon and Bad Boys II, with a bit of Italian giallo thrown into the melting pot as suggested with its murder-mystery angle and its black garbed killer.

As one would expect from a parody comedy, double takes, bad puns and tons of visual gags are ever present in this movie but the noteworthy take in this is that the entire movie itself never resembles a parody. The plot is solid and original enough despite the number of influences, thanks to a well handled direction, pacing, timing and acting that guarantee more hits than misses with its jokes. (Remember how the dead pan attitude-meets-cartoonishly outrageous scenario of the Naked Gun series sat well enough to keep the films entertaining? Everybody in this movie nailed it!) So despite the near two hour running time, let it not fool you as once you get into the zone, the film'll move fluidly and keep you entertain with enough gags, character developments and thrills til' the heavily edited closing scene that's so awesome the editor's head exploded! As suggested in the DVD pop-ups! You gotta love pop-ups! 

So what's in it for us bodycounters? Well, as I will repeat, this isn't your classic slasher film set-up but, comparing this to the duo's previous horror-comedy, the gore here is awfully chunkier and brighter in red. Without spoiling much of the fun, the build-up to these murders are superb and some of the aftermaths will leave you gawking in awe, hyped up for the action scenes to follow, or chuckling at the odd funnies the characters will spat at the moment. If I could compare the story's flow with others, I would say the latter bit of the movie reminds me of the tone direction of the Stallone-starring Cobra (1986), an action-slasher hybrid that started off bodycounting helpless victims before switching to a more high-octane shootout/ brawl-out finale. If you love a good gun fight with your gory murder mysteries then the Fuzz is your haven!

Gun Fights, Car Chases, Proper Action and Shit are wholesomely promised and granted here in Hot Fuzz (2007), so may you be an individual of wide taste or a curious horror fanatic, make no mistake of missing out on this film. I would go as far as calling this the most entertaining ( if not the best) of Wright, Frost and Pegg's Cornetto Trilogy, though I worship each film individually but nonetheless, there's plenty of good reasons why many are labeling this as one of the best action flicks to ever existed. Ever!

Bodycount:
1 male and 1 female decafinated with an axe
1 male incinerated in house explosion
1 male had his head crushed through by a falling church steeple
1 female stabbed through the throat with a pair of garden shears
1 female skeleton found
1 male skeleton found
1 boy skeleton found
1 dog skeleton found
4 boys found murdered
1 elderly male found with head wound
1 male found with throat cut
1 male skeleton found
1 male living statue found dead
1 male decimated by an exploding sea mine
Total: 18

At least, I think he's dead...