Hot Fuzz [2007] (English): A refreshingly comic action movie parody

Have you ever suffered reprimand for being over-competent?
Have you been transferred to a remote country-side village as a reward for your over-competence?
Did your girlfriend dump you because you are more in love with your work? And is she right
Is your new work-place too good to be true?
Have you ever felt that you are the only one who thinks something fishy is going on there, and no one believes you?

If yes, then you will identify with the protagonist of this movie, Nicholas Angel, played by Simon Pegg - a very competent and workaholic police officer (a.k.a. "Fuzz" in local slang). Too competent for his own good... Ditto for being a workaholic... The department rewards him for his good work by transferring him to a remote village in the "country". Its a nice little village, where crime is virtually unknown. For an ambitious and workaholic Fuzz from the City, this is a nightmare. The attitude of the Police department is laid-back and lax. The most challenging task he is entrusted is to track down a missing swan. Nothing is going well it seems. Until one day there is an accident that kills two people. But was it really an accident? Officer Angel believes not. But in a village where the "M" word has not been heard of for decades, no one will believe him... And the truth, as it turns out, is even more sinister than officer Angel had thought...

The movie hooked me right from the start. The logic of Angel's supervisors for transferring him is flawless. The reasons for his Girlfriend to leave him are not at all irrational. His introduction to the village and its folk, and his interactions with them is anything but cordial. 

There is another reason for the movie's quick pick-up. All these sequences are portrayed without "mincing the words" so to speak. Its a unique style employed by the movie-makers - they show quick short snippets of things happening, one after the other in quick succession, to convey an idea. For instance, Angel's journey from London to Sanford village is portrayed using little 2-3 second consecutive shots of him traveling in a taxi, then in a train, and then again in a cab... Due to this quick snappy portrayal of certain events that need not be prolonged unnecessarily, the movie runs along at a steady clip.

The mystery behind the deaths will reel you in. You will never guess who the suspects are. And their motives behind these crimes are so unbelievable that they sound utterly realistic and logical.

The only thing that robs points from this movie is the climax. This is where it mutates from a nice little comic but intricate murder mystery to an action parody. It was an utter let down for me. Even though the rest of the movie was pretty nice.

Hot Fuzz is the second part of the Flavours Cornetto Trilogy.

But don't let this little fact stop you from watching it, just because you have not watched the first part. The three parts are not related. In fact, apart from the facts that:

• they are all directed and co-authored by Edgar Wright
• they feature actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost
• each of the movies afford the audience pure fun at the expense of a specific genre, and
• each one features in it a specific flavour of Cornetto

there is nothing else common between the three movies that form this Trilogy. So believe me, you are not missing out on anything if you watch this one without having watched its "prequel" (Shaun of the Dead). Nor does it leave any untied ends to be tied up in its "sequel" (The World's End). It is a "stand-alone" movie, thank you.

My Ratings: 2.5