Top cop Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) has been transferred from London to
the quiet village of Sanford, where supposedly nothing much happens ...
except for a series of accidents that in his eyes are anything but
accidents. Thing is, Nicholas is more of a patrolman and not an
investigating officer, and the investigating officers (Paddy Considine,
Rafe Spall) rather believe in the accident-theory than actually do some
work - and they are backed by their chief, inspector Butterman (Jim
Broadbent).
The only one who actually believes in Nicholas' theories is the
inspector's son, Danny (Nick Frost), who despite being a police officer
knows most about police work from American action movies like Point
Break or Bad Boys II and who hopes cooperating with Nicholas
will lead to some exciting shoot-outs and chases.
Eventually, after witnessing the killer, a masked and hooded figure,
kill another of his victims (Anne Reid), nicholas thinks he has it all
figured out and tries to arrest the village's most powerful man,
supermarket owner Skinner (Timothy Dalton), but this ends in humiliation
when Skinner comes up with the perfect alibi.
Rather by chance though, Nicholas finds out that there was not only one
but a whole group of killers, and they consist of the village's most
respected citizens, including Skinner, the chief of police and the vicar
(Paul Freeman).
Eventually, Nicholas can convince the whole police force about his
theories, and they take up arms and fight the villains - in some
over-the-top chases and shoot-outs that have to be seen to be believed.
Of course in the end good triumphs over evil, but that actually is
besides the point.
You might not have guessed it from this synopsis, but Hot Fuzz
is actually a comedy, and one that is at times pretty funny at that.
Especially the action-packed finale is nothing short of exhilarating
because of its (at times macabre) inventiveness. The whole film is a
parody of pretty much every American cop action flick there is, with Simon
Pegg playing the divorced cop who just can't turn off to the hilt.
Unfotunately the film isn't quite as great as it should have been/could
have been, a few too many too obvious pop culture references prevent that
and an overzealousness to establish the main characters rather than just
being funny, other scenes however are just priceless, but on the other
hand the film has some great scenes not to be missed, and you certainly
can't blame the film for trying ...
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