Hot Fuzz is from the creators of Shaun of the Dead. So, it’s quirky, British humor, but ever so well done. The basic premise is that a very hotshot London cop, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), has been sent to the safest village in England because he’s making everyone else on the London force look bad. He can’t cause trouble tucked away in the countryside, right? And, even if he does, it’ll be the village’s problem to deal with him, not London’s.
Angel arrives, promptly arrests any number of people (including another officer, Danny Butterman, played by the wonderful Nick Frost) and quickly begins to realize that the uncanny number of accidents that happen in quiet little Sanford can’t possibly all be accidents. What’s going on? Finding that out is the fun of the film.
There are many things that make Hot Fuzz work. One is the story, written by Pegg and director Edgar Wright. It has great set-ups, borrows all sorts of tried-and-true buddy action picture conventions, and keeps clicking along. (My only quibble with it is that the violence is increasingly graphic, but I understand why they did that, and so it’s ok.) Another is the cast, which is absolutely first rate. You’ve got Pegg and Frost, who play off each other beautifully, and then a really impressive line-up of townspeople. Jim Broadbent is the police chief (and Danny’s father); Edward Woodward, David Threlfall, Paul Freeman and Billie Whitelaw are among the townspeople; Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman and Steve Coogan are Angel’s London supervisors; and even Cate Blanchett is along in a brief part as Angel’s former girlfriend.
But, most marvelous at all, at least for this reviewer, is the presence of Timothy Dalton as Simon Skinner, the local supermarket owner and the focus of Angel’s suspicions. Not that Angel doesn’t have reason; both in the writing and the portrayal, this is Timothy Dalton at his might-well-be-evil best. The first tip-off to that is that he has a mustache; if you’re a true Dalton aficionado, you know that the mustache usually means he’s being bad. (Think The Rocketeer, for example.) Simon Skinner is a part to get your teeth into, and Dalton makes the most of it. I’ve read a couple of reviews of Hot Fuzz where the reviewer professed shock at Dalton’s comedic chops; they obviously haven’t seen much of his work, including the recent Looney Tunes Back in Action, but also the terrific dark comedy Hawks, a movie that cries out for a DVD reissue. Plus, this is a man who could sing a slightly rewritten “Love Will Keep Us Together” (substituting “you’re so beautiful” for the original “young and beautiful”) to Mae West in her final film, Sextette. And then there’s his work as Prince Barin in the 1980 release of Flash Gordon (cue Queen here … “Flash, ah-ah, saviour of the universe”). The Hot Fuzz boys make no secret of having decided on Dalton for Skinner because of their admiration for Prince Barin.
Sorry … that was likely a bit much, but give a Timothy Dalton fan an opening … Anyway, Hot Fuzz has so much to offer. There’s Pegg’s uptight, lonely, misunderstood Angel; the moving relationship between him and Frost’s Butterman (I loved learning that much of Butterman’s dialogue was originally written for a female love interest for Angel – when they dropped the character, they kept the dialogue and just gave it to Butterman); the classic English village with its quirky characters; plus lots of blood and explosions. What’s not to love?
Hot Fuzz is one of the few DVDs I’ve ever watched three times in a row, just to take advantage of some great special features. To be specific, Time One was to just see the movie again (I’d seen it in the theater); Time Two was to watch with the “Fuzz Facts” feature turned on, a sort of pop-up video. Fuzz Facts gives fun info about actors and characters, and also tells you where various things were filmed as well as identifying every song on the soundtrack by title and artist. I really like this feature, especially in a movie like this where the dialogue is so good. Time Three was to watch with the commentary track featuring Wright and Pegg, which repeats a lot of the Fuzz Facts version but also gives some additional tidbits.
Other special features include a few deleted scenes (nothing essential); a making of with some fun comments; outtakes that include a lot of cursing over muffed lines; the chance to tag along as Wright, Pegg and Frost do a whirlwind U.S. tour; and all sorts of other fun stuff (don’t miss Pegg and Frost’s take on Michael Caine and Sean Connery from The Man Who Would Be King).
Technical specs: English, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1 EX and subtitles in the same three languages. The movie is a much too short two hours and one minute.
Bottom line: Hot Fuzz is just terrific! If you like action pics, this one will keep you going. If you’re a fan of British humor, ditto. If you’re into snappy dialogue, you’ll find lots to like here. And if you’re a fan of Pegg, Frost, Dalton or any of the others in this amazing cast, they all get to shine. Don’t miss this one – well worth watching over and over again.