810. Hot Fuzz (2007)

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton

Director: Edgar Wright

Running Time: 121 mins

Hot Fuzz is a British film about a Metropolitan Police officer who is reassigned to a small village constabulary in Gloucestershire, and during his time there, he becomes suspicious that there is a major conspiracy in the town causing the accidental deaths of its residents.

This is my favourite comedy film ever. It’s definitely the best instalment in The Cornetto Trilogy, because of its absolutely brilliant humour and writing, insanely over-the-top and action-packed but massively entertaining story, fantastic performances and direction, as well as having the surprising added touch of being quite intelligent too.

Now, Shaun Of The Dead and The World’s End are both stunning films, definitely in my top ten comedies of all time, but both of those films had tiny little problems that just prevented them from being perfect, whereas this does everything so brilliantly that it’s almost as perfect as a comedy can get.

We’ll start then with the most important part itself: the laughs, and I’m delighted to say that they are aplenty in this film. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright’s parody humour is taken to its full extent in this movie, taking the mick out of all of the mad Hollywood action flicks so brilliantly and so cleverly. However, it’s not only references to the films it’s parodying that makes this so funny, but also the comedy of the whole situation is brilliant.

Bringing a London cop to a quaint little countryside town is a fantastically funny story line at the beginning of the film, and then the insanity and explosion of action that is totally contrasting to the nature of the setting towards the end is even more hilarious, and a hell of a lot of fun to watch, but basically, it’s pretty clear that the comedic writing in this film is stunning.

However, the story is also really well-written. It’s not only done so well as to accommodate this comedy, but it’s a genuinely exciting, tense and mysterious thrill-ride from start to finish, with the added bonus of there being a lot of laughs, however the screenplay in this is so intelligent and well-crafted that it’s a completely unpredictable and pulsating thriller right up until the bitter (or lager) end.

And that’s one of the main things I thought that the other two films lacked. Despite having great stories and fantastic comedy, they didn’t have any degree of genuine excitement or tension, whilst their intelligence can’t compare at all to this film.

One of the other most impressive aspects of this movie are the performances. Simon Pegg is funnier than ever here, and his bumbling sidekick in the shape of Nick Frost is absolutely hilarious, but the really outstanding performance in this film comes from Timothy Dalton, the suspicious supermarket owner, who’s not only hilariously taking the mick out of his own serious acting, but also just an absolute pleasure to watch be such a seemingly dastardly villain.

Finally, this is by far Edgar Wright’s best-directed film. Scott Pilgrim was fantastically done, but this is the film where he really uses his trademark fast cuts to fit the story and atmosphere, as they not only give the film a more action-y feel, but also contribute somewhat to the fast pace of the story and the excitement of it all.

Overall, this gets a 9.6, because it’s just such a brilliantly funny comedy, jam-packed with action, an intelligent and genuinely thrilling story, as well as fantastic performances and stunning direction.