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HOT FUZZ / Edgar Wright (2007)

April 19th, 2007 by Scott Marks

HOT FUZZ (2007)

Hot Fuzz (2007)

Directed by: Edgar Wright

Written by: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg

Cast: Simon Pegg, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Robert Popper, Joe Cornish, Chris Waitt, Eric Mason, Billie Whitelaw, Nick Frost, Peter Wight, Julia Deakin, Tom Strode Walton, Troy Woollan, Rory Lowings, Bill Bailey

Aspect Ratio: cinemascope5.jpg

Genres: Action, Comedy, Crime, Mystery

The worst thing a satire can do is become what it is parodying. It took Hot Fuzz exactly five minutes, and some flashy sound and video editing, to become Lethal Weapon 4.

Simon Pegg, a TV writer who co-scripted with fellow TV writer-turned-director Wright, stars as one man SWAT team Sergeant Nicholas Angel. No criminal is safe in his district.

As Blazing Saddles proved, the premise of a parody need not be structurally sound. Making sense would help.

Why would Angel’s superiors want to get rid of an officer with a 400% arrest record? A quick shot of his co-workers spontaneously celebrating his departure shows their dislike, but is jealousy really a good enough reason to transfer a top cop to Nowheresville? That’s about as high as this concept gets.

The peaceful town of Sandford makes Mayberry look like Sin City. The Commissioner’s son is a DUI magnet. His punishment: treating the staff to cake and ice cream. The local newspaper misidentifies Angel an “Angle.” That’s good for seven minutes of milking. One grizzled officer communicates exclusively in grunts every time they cut away to him. Every time. Get it?

Angel is stuck with an oafish partner/comic relief (Nick Frost). Initially the Supercop is disgusted, but beware: pathos ahead. Angel’s transition from contemptuous superior to tender comrade is as ludicrous as it is unfounded. It wasn’t until spoof got serious that I finally started to chuckle.

There was one legitimate laugh. A “swear box,” constructed to monetarily penalize potty-mouthed cops, proudly lists the offensive words on its front.

Didn’t the filmmakers ever hear of Naked Gun 500 ¾’s? Cop spoofs died decades ago and even the “geniuses” behind Shaun of the Dead can’t bring these cardboard zombies to life.

The gags are achingly arthritic. Skinny and Fatty have to chase a criminal over four fences. Svelte Angel leaps all four practically in a single bound. His tubby partner crashes through the first one. This needed the weightless touch that only a cartoonist or animator could imagine.

While Shaun of the Dead turned out to be a clever spoof on George Romero’s zombie trilogy, Hot Fuzz quickly loses focus and adopts a Not Another Teen Movie scattergun approach. Before it’s done, they shit on Goodfellas, Rosemary’s Baby, The Wicker Man and even Sergio Leone. These dolts should be allowed to watch Once Upon a Time in the West let alone parody it.

After two agonizing hours it turns out there’s not one likable character in the bunch, yet the filmmakers want you to embrace all of them. Shaun was tough and cynical. This needed more hot and less warm and fuzzy.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆

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Filed Under Reviews, Theatrical