• Hey Webmasters! Get a free website with holiday themes - Get it NOW!

Without a doubt, this is the best British action-comedy cop movie parody to be released this year.

That statement, however, sells this movie short by such astronomical proportions that it's hard to even fathom. Hot Fuzz is, without much doubt, going to be one of the top movies to come out in 2007. In the year of the threequel (Spiderman 3, Shrek 3, Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Bourne 3, etc, etc), Hot Fuzz stands as the best comedy of the year.

Hot Fuzz is, in a word, hilarious. In two words, surprisingly hilarious. In a short sentence, even funnier than Shaun of the Dead, and a sign that Simon Pegg (co-writer and star), Nick Frost (co-star), and Edgar Wright (co-writer and director) are the next big thing in not only British comedy, but in the movie business in general.

The story of Hot Fuzz, surrounding Nicholas Angel (Pegg), who has just been dumped by his girlfriend and transferred to a small town with an extremely low "crime rate," but an astronomical "accident rate," is executed nearly flawlessly. The jokes, while sometimes ostensibly British, are almost always hilarious, and the way that absurdity is treated so naturally by all of the cast is a testament to the skills of the writers and actors involved.

Like Shaun of the Dead, however, the movie is not a straight comedy per-se. There is a lot of violence, and a couple of moments that were so gruesome that they elicited audible gasps from the audience (trying to keep the spoilers to a minimum, all I will say is that they both involve impaling), and this movie is NOT for the faint of heart. If you're squeamish and freaked out by only the sight of blood, do not watch this movie. Although the humor might be appreciated, the violence will probably be too much to handle, even if the violence sometimes is so over-the-top that it is obvious that the ultra-violent scenes are meant as part of the satire.

If, however, you're used to the excessive violence that has permeated the movies the past few decades, this movie is a must-see.

Back to movie reviews

Copyright 2008 Benjamin Wood