Writers: Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg
Cast: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Timothy Dalton
Exceptional London cop Nicholas Angel is involuntarily transferred to a quaint English village and paired with a witless new partner. While on a beat, Nicholas suspects a sinister conspiracy is afoot with the residents who are paranoid about losing their village Sanford's status as the model village of England.
I have not seen Point Break, Bad Boys 2 (Switching off after 10 minutes of Michael Bay's shitfest don't count) or even Lethal Weapon. In fact I don't think I have seen any of the buddy cop films (More than 100 of them) that they have researched to make this film. It is an elaborate spoof on the genre but it probably is better than most of the films that they are referencing even when it comes to the action sequences. That is what makes Edgar Wright's films great. They don't hate the genre that they are making fun of and so, the film turns out to be immensely watchable even if you don't particularly like those kind of films. That is why Hot Fuzz if a great film whilst 'The Other Guys' is just a watchable film.
Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg started with this project citing the fact that there have never been a British buddy cop film. The lack of gun culture in England might be one of the reason. They get around this issue by having them seize a shitload of firearms from a villager. The scene with Nicholas Angel fully armed and mounded up on a horse patrolling the village, Western Style is a great sequence. The extended ending sequence after everything is taken care of is also intentional from the director since it is something that is common among the buddy cop films with one partner's life left hanging for a while but he doesn't quite die and all is well with the world. It is interesting that this film's violence is much more graphic than most of the action films and some people might get put off by it. But in my opinion the comedy and action has the right balance and even the action scenes are very much on the funny side.
I think this is the most well-made film out of the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz & World's End- if you are brain-dead and didn't know that). I will put World' End on a slightly lower standing relative the other two even though I loved it also when I saw it. I have to revisit it again to fully make up my mind. Edgar Wright was working on the studio backed Marvel film 'Ant-Man' but has been pushed out due to creative differences. I don't know why they would even hire him for that in the first place if they didn't know what kind of film he makes. They should have just watched 'Scott Pilgrim Vs the World' which was a big budget disaster at the box office despite being a great film (Hardly surprising). In a way I am glad he got pushed out because I don't care much for the comic book/graphic novel adaptations (Sin City, Scott Pilgirm & Kick-Ass exempted) anyway and it seems Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg will be teaming up again for another fresh trilogy over the next ten years. Hopefully Nick Frost will be also on board.
Bring the noise!!!
Rating: 5/5
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