Great Britain has released a lot of great comedies since the inception of cinema. From Monty Python to The Pink Panther, there has been a huge demand for laughter. As a nation we do enjoy our slapstick comedy as well as our irony and all kinds of physical humour, which is why the comedy we make has created a strong legacy within our cinematic culture. Saying that, one of my favourite comedies of all time has to be Hot Fuzz.
Edgar Wright stormed cinemas with the excellent genre hybrid, a rom-zom-com, film Shaun of the Dead. The story and the characters were front and centre, with a zombie apocalypse as a backdrop but it was never the focus of the film. The focus instead was the relationship between the characters and their need to survive. With Hot Fuzz the focus remains the same, except instead of a zombie apocalypse the film heavily parodied buddy cop films such as Lethal Weapon.
Hot Fuzz is beautifully shot as an action film but the film also remains grounded and centred on the characters of Simon Pegg’s Nick and on Nick Frost’s Danny. Danny is immature and doesn’t take being a police officer seriously, constantly thinking life is a movie. Nick Angel on the other hand is a serious police officer and takes the role of enforcing the law completely seriously. The result is a lot of laughs! It was hard picking three shots that I love for today’s blog, but these are the ones that have stayed with me the most.
The whole Swan sub-plot in the film is actually based on a real story with British Police, which is amazing because it’s completely absurd. A wayward Swan causing trouble in the English Countryside? Let’s call the police. That’s exactly what happens with Nick and Danny as they are sent to retrieve the animal. Swan’s are not known to be docile, so seeing the actors attempt to wrangle one and place one in a police car is pure comedy genius. You know what they say, never work with children or animals. As the Swan is in custody the film begins to let you know that nothing is off the table in terms of the comedy.
Timothy Dalton is Simon Skinner, a friendly supermarket manager who seems to have a very suspicious smile throughout the film. In fact it is so suspicious that we see two smiles for the price of one. Edgar Wright is a master at framing a shot to get the most laughs out of the audience. With Simon mimicking the photo of himself in the background you can’t help but put a smile on your face too. Timothy Dalton never goes full panto with his villainous turn but he manages to cross the fine line of absurdity and seriousness rather well.
Like I said earlier the film mocks a lot of buddy cop movies, from Point Break to Lethal Weapon. The fact that the climax of the film, which is a big shoot-out, is in the same vein as those films are the icing on the cake. There are so many guns and bullets, but then we see the elderly citizens of Sandford getting their action dues as they begin firing rifles and all sorts. The whole sequence is over-the-top but it never feels like it. It’s a homage to the classics but it is also comedy gold!
I could easily pick several more shots from the film but I don’t have the time to go into that much detail, even though I would love to. Hot Fuzz is considered a classic British Comedy, with it repeating a lot on channels such as ITV late at night. Whenever the film comes on you can’t help but watch it, further ensuring the longevity and the legacy that film has created. Edgar Wright delivered another comedy with The World’s End, but it will be interesting if Hot Fuzz ever gets a sequel. Yet again I think it should remain its own entity in the pantheon of British cinema.
Thanks for reading today’s blog!
Alex Murray, the Head of Eyesight Productions
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