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</script></div>{/googleAds}One of the benefits of watching Hot Fuzz, knowing its creators are the geniuses behind Shaun of the Dead, is gently comparing the two and discovering where they stuck to what worked in Shaun and where they experimented with other comedic ploys. In what is clearly a send-up of action movies from Lethal Weapon to Bond spy jobs, Hot Fuzz successfully perpetrates a subtly humorous jab at octane filmmaking whilst honoring the genre's stars. And the pairing of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost once again reveals the comedic duo's innate trust in the other to make each moment its own joke.
Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is a consumate cop. He's top in his London class, has extensive training in all manner of defensive maneuvers, weapons and explosives, tactics, and driving (all this is told in an opening fast-paced montage edited like a Tony Scott action scene). He's such a good cop that his superiors and colleagues are professionally jealous enough to send him to the quietest town in England, Sandford, an idyllic village with picturesque streets and quaint citizenry. Pleasant enough to drive the insanely driven Nicholas nearly mad with the dull life he's suddenly thrust into, the town seems like a dead end until locals start dying mysteriously "accidental" deaths. Nicholas suspects foul play, and his crusading turns all against him but his new, staunch friend Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), the son of the local police chief and an avid admirer of Nicholas' big-city cop manner.
The two share one-liners and gags a-plenty, with both Pegg and Frost changing gears from their Shaun characters. With Edgar Wright's slick and focused direction, the film is a well-orchestrated, over-the-top study in how to make a comedy without dealing out gross-out laughs and underdeveloped jokes. Every moment in Hot Fuzz counts.
No doubt every fan of Shaun of the Dead will be judging Hot Fuzz on its merits as a worthy follow-up to the zombie masterpiece. It is an unfortunate comparison, as the two films are utterly different in scope and intent. Here the jokes are as numerous and clever, but the pop culture references are rarer and more subtle, and the homage jokes, especially the climax, are not necessarily the kind of jokes you'll laugh out loud about.
Nevertheless, the film is a reminder of the strengths the trio of Wright, Pegg, and Frost bring to the cinematic table. They revel in a simple but well-told yarn that never descends to the level of foolishly puerile or indecipherably abstract. Instead, they remain focused and dead on course, and the result is a film that is funny and congenial.
DVD Details:
Screen formats: Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1
Subtitles: English, French
Language and Sound: English: Dolby Digital 5.1; French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Other Features: Color; interactive menus; scene access; audio commentary; featurettes; outtakes; storyboards; photo galleries.
* Commentary -
o Feature-length commentary with filmmakers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.
* Featurettes -
o Fuzz-O-Meter - Trivia track
o The Fuzzball Rally - Recorded promotional tour by Wright, Pegg and Frost.
o A selection of re-voiced 'airline version' dialogue lines to replace the film's profanity.
o Danny's notebook flip animations
* Deleted Scenes - The Man Who Would Be Fuzz - With optional commentary
* Story Boards
* Previews - for two upcoming films and two TV spots
Number of discs: - 1- Keepcase Packaging
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