Film Review #6

I’m a sucker for well-crafted British humor. Naturally, when I heard of the film Hot Fuzz, I knew I had to take a look.

This action comedy was made in 2007 by famed British direction Edgar Wright, the mind behind Shaun of the Dead, Grindhouse and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.
Overall, Hot Fuzz lived up to its expectation of a campy, yet humorous and suspenseful tale about an ambitious cop who is transferred to a small village and given the challenge of accepting mediocrity.
The main character, Nicholas Angel (played by Simon Pegg), fails to accept his new role as average citizen in an unexciting town and begins a vendetta on all sorts of crime in this, previously lax setting.
Naturally, the locals are unamused by this new crackdown on wrongdoings, but go along with it until Angel discovers a plot by some of the townspeople that involves a string of murders.
Within the film, the two locations greatly contract each other, creating an element of juxtaposition which fosters a change in the main character. Angel goes from overly ambitious and competitive to someone who learns to work as a team. The hustle and bustle of London, mixed with the sleepy setting of Sandford, creates an interesting dynamic explored through the characterization of Angel.
Although sometimes a bit corny, I’ve always enjoyed a campier style of action film. The acting mainly showed off this feature.
The aspects of filmmaking that I usually note were unremarkable. The dialogue was good, but no quotes from the film jumped out. The cinematography is well done, the dolly shots are seamless. All various parts of the film are good, but nothing was amazing.
Yet, even considering this, the film remains to be one of the funniest I’ve seen.
A mix of the sarcastic and satirical tone in Simon Peggs voice, the use of physical comedy and the stone-faced bravado of the various cast members, Hot Fuzz was a lovely comedy, perfect to watch with a group.

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