Hot Fuzz

A couple years ago, when I picked a favorite movie per year, a great experiment btw, there was one recent choice that, at the time, surprised me. That was Hot Fuzz for 2007. It wasn't that I think it's bad, the opposite truly, but it popped in the middle of a run foundational to my love of the movies.

1998 - Rush Hour

1999 - The Matrix

2000 - Gladiator

2001 - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

2002 - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

2003 - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

2004 - Spider-Man 2

2005 - Batman Begins

2006 - The Prestige

2007 - Hot Fuzz

2008 - The Dark Knight

2009 - Fantastic Mr. Fox

2010 - Inception

It felt like a good example of 'One of these things is not like the others, one of these things just doesn't belong,' and I've been thinking about it ever since. After rewatching it a few weeks ago I know for sure my initial reaction was wrong. Hot Fuzz definitely belongs.

Hot Fuzz is the second of a loosely connected trilogy, all directed by Edgar Wright (see also Scott Pilgrim, Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho) and starring Simon Pegg, with quite a few recurring cast members as well. They're parodies of different types, with Shaun of the Dead set during a zombie apocalypse, Hot Fuzz a small town buddy-cop action comedy and The World's End featuring an alien invasion. Each has more than a little social commentary as well, and are thoroughly British. A ton of time in these movies takes place in pubs and much of the humor plays off the population keeping a stiff upper lip, assuming everything will work out all right, when everything is going very very wrong.

From the description above you might think Hot Fuzz is the most boring of the three. Even watching the first half or so of the movie might give you that impression, it looks like a dry take on a procedural. We meet Nicholas Angel (Pegg), an overeager London cop, obsessively and relentlessly going after crime. He does so well there's clearly resentment from the rest of his office. He earns a promotion to Sergeant, against his will, and is sent to a tiny English town known as the safest in the country. The biggest problems encountered at first are things like underage drinking in the pub, potential curfew-breaking hooligans and a man, who turns out to be a fellow cop, trying to drink-drive (to borrow their terminology). The town, for a bit, is truly quiet. Everyone knows everyone else. The police and the neighborhood watch keep an eye out, but there's not much to see. At least until the accidents start happening.

The accidents, of which Angel is solely convinced are murders, are grisly. An actor couple are decapitated in a car crash. A reporter is demolished by a falling piece of an old church's battlement. Events keep accelerating and no one else is convinced there's actually anything nefarious going on, to our hero's astonishment. This couldn't happen in our town, there hasn't been a murder in decades. Eventually, though, Angel stumbles upon what's really happening and the movie takes a quick turn. Into awesomeness.

IYKYK (and it's Belloq!)

I'm not going to spoil it. But there's a singular point where Angel, after finally convincing his one cop buddy (his best friend in all three of these movies, Nick Frost) to join him, where this movie goes from biting satire into raucous hilarity. From here on out you'll barely stop laughing, or at least I didn't. Don't judge too quickly, you don't want to miss the end.

On a somewhat side note, it's also ridiculous who all's in this film. Martin Freeman and Bill Nighy are regulars, with bit parts in all three parts of the trilogy. The small town cops include Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon) and Olivia Colman (the Crown and much more). Rory McCann (Game of Thrones) plays this ridiculous character that only says one word, if you can call it that. And then Timothy Dalton (you know, briefly James Bond) steals every scene he's in. It's a ton of fun to see so many familiar faces.

Terrific meme too

Not only is this the best of the so-called Cornetto Trilogy, imo, it's settling in to be one of my favorite comedies overall. Check it out if you get a chance.