(NOTE: A lot of people have found this article while looking for the Hot Fuzz movie script – I have found links to the regular screenplay, but it seems the interactive screenplay is no longer around.

• Hot Fuzz Screenplay source 1
• Hot Fuzz Screenplay source 2

If these links die, let me know.)

Hot Fuzz is a police parody movie from the same people who brought us the zombie parody Shaun of the Dead. Those same people being Edgar Wright, who co-wrote and directed with Simon Pegg, who co-wrote and starred. Since I’m such a big fan of both Shaun of the Dead and of Simon Pegg (who also starred in a good but short-lived sitcom called Spaced) I came to this movie expecting it to be extremely entertaining. I expected it to contain slapstick as well as sophisticated humor. And generally, I expected it not to suck.

I wasn’t disappointed. This movie is highly enjoyable. The humor is a fine mix of sophisticated and slapstick (as only the British can do) and it most definitely didn’t suck. But don’t get me wrong, there were some things about this movie that could have been and should have been taken care of before it left the cutting room floor.

The plot. The story centers around a London policeman…excuse me, police officer Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg). Angel is the overachieving, excels at everything in his chosen profession, obsessed with his work type. And his work is being a police officer. He gets a promotion to sergeant but also a reassignment from the city of London to the country. Once there, our hero learns that this place is not the peaceful hamlet it seems to be when several seemingly gruesome “accidents” start to take place. So far so good. The plot is a cliché but as this movie is a parody of police action films, that’s all right, it’s to be expected. But after the first hour and a half of this, the plot degenerates into something ridiculous just to drive the last half hour of the film which brings me to…

The pace. This whole movie is one long build-up to the final twenty-minute John Woo style action fest. The problem with this is that the payoff isn’t as entertaining as this movies’ creators obviously thought it would be. It also means that the first hour and a half of the movie seems excessively long. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very entertaining. I can guarantee that you’ll find yourself laughing out loud even if you don’t want to. You may even find yourself flinching from some of the overly gruesome killing methods displayed in this film. But despite all that, I found myself becoming anxious to see the part of the movie that was advertised, the action. But when I finally got it, it wasn’t at all what I expected. Oh, it was entertaining and very, very over-the-top, but it seemed like too much too late in the film.

Since I actually want people to see this film, I left out a lot to keep from spoiling any of it. I have a few gripes but overall this is a good movie. I suggest you see it the best way you know how.

All in all, excellent setup; shoddy, but no less engaging, execution.

More Info From Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot_Fuzz

See How Others Rated it on IMDB – http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425112/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425112

Hot Fuzz is available cheap on both DVD and Blu-ray from Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000RJO578?ie=UTF8&tag=wofrhofrjo-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000RJO578

more movie reviews by S. Barnes

other media reviews by S. Barnes