Dir. Edgar WrightHot Fuzz
[Comedy]
2004's Shaun of the Dead was rightly regarded as one of the most accomplished spoofs in recent times. Bringing Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's irresistible brand of humour to a wider audience, it was consistently funny, well structured and also handled more serious moments with ease. Though it never quite reached the dizzy heights of This is Spinal Tap, even king of the absurd Christopher Guest could have learned a thing or two from its superb bastardization of the ridiculous (pool cues, anyone?).
Given the vast success of their first foray into film, it's hardly surprising the duo are back for more with Hot Fuzz – an attempted send-up of the countless police buddy movies out there – and the film studio evidently has more faith this time too, splashing the cash on the likes of Timothy Dalton, Jim Broadbent, Steve Coogan, Bill Bailey and more. And though the bigger budget, slicker direction and more accessible gags will obviously win the pair a larger audience (and, you guessed it, loadsa dosh), something has undoubtedly gone missing along the way.
However, identifying exactly what makes Hot Fuzz so inferior to its predecessor is no easy task. Is it the unnecessarily long, self-indulgent running time (director Edgar Wright has admitted deliberately stretching the film to make it exactly two hours long)? Is it the plethora of tired jokes (cops putting on shades and folding their arms, wow...)? Is it the fact that many of the big stars have clearly turned up for the money and can't be bothered to act (a sequence with Coogan, Freeman and Nighy is almost unbearably bad)? It's probably a combination of the three, though Coogan's performance really has to be seen to be believed. Hot Fuzz is also notable for its many missed opportunities. To give one example, parts of the film make effective use of extreme violence, yet the inevitable shootouts are almost entirely bloodless; anyone's who's seen Evil Dead 2 will appreciate the comedic potential of a crimson tide.
Elsewhere, Edgar Wright is keen to show off his new camera, putting together some great fast-paced montages, over the top zooms, swoops and pans that really complement the preposterousness of the mood. Yet about half way through the film the visual effects vanish almost entirely, and with them goes any possibility that some reasonably funny scenes could be made much more memorable.
As it stands now, a week after I saw the film, the majority has been completely forgotten.It's not that Hot Fuzz isn't funny - it made me laugh out loud three or four times - it's just that, after exhibiting such talent in Spaced and then Shaun..., we had a right to expect much more from one of Britain's brightest double acts. At least it's better than Hyperspace. 56
