By Nurul Ain Muzlan

Forget sugar, spice and everything nice. All you need is some comedy and action, a dash of horror and a combination of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Mix it up altogether, and poof! You have found the perfect formula that will give you a movie experience like never before. Well, as derived from the title of the post, you should know that I’m talking about Hot Fuzz! Clinching the ‘Best Comedy Award’ for both of UK’s National Movie Awards and Empire Awards, this movie will undoubtedly help to lift that burden off your shoulders for a moment. Perhaps, even the most depressed person in the world can break into peals of laughter.

Hot Fuzz is written and directed by Edgar Wright and together with the lead actor of the movie, Simon Pegg. The movie tells a story of a London policeman, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), who is known for his bravery and passion for the force with an impressive record in the number of arrest he made (400% more than the average). His achievement is so extravagant that he made the rest of the officers, especially the ones with a higher rank than him, look bad. With such accomplishment, he is given a ‘reward’ by being promoted to sergeant, but at the same time, he has to be transferred to Sandford, a small town with a  seemingly impossible low rate of crimes, in order to save his colleagues’ face. There, he was paired with a police officer Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), who also loves to watch action movies and longed to live a life as portrayed by those movies. Soon, Sandford faces series of cases where people died in a tragic way, but were often seen just as another ‘accident’. After thorough investigation and having weird conversations with some of the people there, Angel noticed that these cases were somehow linked in a way or another, and he could feel that something was amiss. He then finds out that there was actually a secret society with a big plan to keep the town’s name clean and “tranquil”. With the help of Danny’s ideas gained from the movies he watch, they managed to conquer the whole situation.

The film begins interestingly with a dolly shot towards an unknown and silhouetted character who is walking towards the camera. The lack of sound except for the character’s footsteps helps to build suspense in the audience. When the camera and the character get close enough, it reveals Nicholas Angel and a close up of his face lingering on the screen for a few moments before he flashes his police ID card on the screen. Then, shots of Angel doing his job and the serious mood of music in the background work to trick the audience as though it’s ‘just another cop film’. But, funny expressions of Angel and his interaction with other characters in a humorous atmosphere prove otherwise. The rapid cutting of the shots also helps to build the intensity and engage our emotions towards the beginning film. Plus, it helps to condense as much information about Angel as possible to allow the audience to know him better. I think this is a very unique way to introduce the main character and the mixture of genre of the film to the audience. After all, the introduction plays a vital role in influencing the audience’s first impression of the film.

I love the way Hot Fuzz played around with the character’s traits. For instance, the firmness of Angel as a police officer and his diligence in his job is made funny by having him to attend minor and silly cases in Sandford, such as helping to catch lose swan and arresting a person miming as a statue. On the other hand, the silly and clumsy Danny Butterman then turned out to be a hero at the end. However, despite the contrast in their characteristics, both certainly have good chemistry between them, especially how they supported each other’s dialogues through ridiculous responses and sarcasm that help to enhance the comedy theme.

What I certainly love about this movie is the dialogue used, which are original, hilarious and clever. Perhaps, I think that by simply reading the script, you can already laugh your hearts out. Some of the memorable dialogues used are in the scene when Angel questions the underage teenagers in a pub. Not much physical action is needed here and the dialogue is effective enough for the audience to burst into laughter. I also feel that among the other characters, Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) stands out and best delivers the dialogues as he also uses his facial expressions that show the dumbness of his character. In addition, Danny’s physical traits and actions also help to add to the comedic theme. Being an obese police officer, he has a hard time running after the criminals and often end up stumbling and being all clumsy, something that is least expected of an ordinary officer.

Another notable thing about Hot Fuzz is its editing technique. Like the beginning of the film as mentioned earlier, the movie uses a lot of rapid cutting and little transitions, which is effective in keeping the audience gripped to the screen. Besides, it helps to shorten the time of the less action-packed and slower-paced scenes, which may otherwise bore the audience. A notable scene in which parallel editing is used when Angel was supposed to meet the reporter, Tim Messenger, at three o’ clock sharp also help to build the suspense as we can see that Angel is running out of time and Messenger is going to be killed soon.

It is hard to find flaws with this movie, as it is really fun to be watched. Perhaps, the only drawback is that the running time is too long for a comedy film. This is probably because some of the action scenes, such as the shooting scene between Angel, Butterman and the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance members, were a little bit too long. Still, it is filled with great jokes to keep it entertaining.

All in all, Hot Fuzz is undoubtedly an intelligent hilarious movie. I give it 4 out of 5 stars!