Hot Fuzz

Was probably more fun to make than it was to watch

Over a little more than two hours Edgar Wright and Simon Peg indulge their love of big budget action blockbusters. Like Shaun of the dead it before it, the movie gets considerable comic mileage from putting British institutions and humour in an American context though the same problems remain.

Wright and Peg seem too close to the source material to send it up properly and at times seem confused as to whether they’re making an action film or an action film parody, making jokes at the expense of the genre one minute and solemnly using its conventions the next. It’s also a good half an hour too long - by the tenth petrochemical explosion you may find yourself asking whether the whole thing isn’t just a bit indulgent.

That said it’s generally pretty charming and has some excellent gags which is much more than you can say for most comedy at the moment.

3/5

Synonyms: Shaun of the Dead, Zoolander