Hot Fuzz. An intentionally absurd action comedy by the guys who did
Sean of the Dead. It's not the type of movie I usually see, but the wacky trailer made me laugh and won me over, and I enjoyed it. It's not any kind of masterpiece, and the ending action sequences get predictable when they go on way too long, but I feel safe recommending it.
To the scores:
Hot Fuzz
Script/Story: 7
Acting/Casting: 6
Action: 7
Humor: 7
Horror: NA
Eye Candy: 4
Fun Factor: 7
Replayability: 7
Overall: 7
It's noting spectacular, but it's fun and funny and has enough of a plot to keep your interest. The theory is that our hero is the best cop on the force in London. He's very by the book, very industrious and serious, and is entirely humorless, but very effective. So effective that his slacker bosses and coworkers can't stand him, and he gets transferred to some tiny hamlet in the English countryside, where there's no crime at all. All the locals on the police force are clueless and resentful of the big city guy, except for one fat slacker who idolizes action movies and thinks big city police work is like what he sees in bad action movies like
Bad Boys,
Point Break, etc.
"Do you ever leap through the air while firing two guns at the same time?" he asks, amongst other similar questions.
Of course the plot begins to turn and bodies begin to pile up in the small town, but they're just accidents, right? Mr. Big City Cop is imagining things. The locals are as sweet and kind and naïve as they seem. Or are they? If you've seen the trailer or any of the current commercials for the DVD you'll know that they are not, and that wild action movie hijinks ensue.
Those are where the guys who made the film clearly have their fun, as every action movie cliche and classic scene is recreated and lampooned. The film reminded me of
Team America, since it was so over the top with crazy car chases and hundreds of rounds fired (that hit no one) and bombs going off and climactic fist fight scenes in the rain, etc. It's all totally absurd though, honoring the formula conventions while skewering them in countless humorous ways. Like
Team America, I think
Hot Fuzz might be a lot funnier the second time. Seeing it in the theater I was disengaged from the story since I was taking in all of the parodies and trying to guess which scene from
Lethal Weapon they were going to recreate next. I enjoyed
Team America more the second time, since I didn't spend the whole film muttering, "I can't believe they just went there."
Hot Fuzz would probably be a similar experience, upon a second viewing, which would be nice, since I enjoyed it the first time.
Labels: movie review
