Hot Fuzz (2007)

When I think of a prime example of excellent filmmaking, I go to my favourite movie of all time: Hot Fuzz. Part of the Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, whose name matches his personality; a goody two shoes who doesn’t know how to shut off, while Nick Frost plays Danny Butterman, a soft yet slow police officer who wants to be like his new Sergeant Nicholas, as they try to untangle a murder mystery that’s happening across their little countryside town.

This film is the most comfortable movie I have ever watched, not one moment I didn’t enjoy, not one character I didn’t like, not one shot I felt unnecessary, it is my opinion, cinematic gold and I encourage everyone to watch this masterpiece directed by Edgar Wright.

Speaking of which, one reason I love this movie so much is because Edgar Wright is one of the best directors I have ever seen, cutting together scenes and mixing sound fantastically, making the most mundane things like opening doors, filling in paperwork and grabbing a beer look thrilling and action-packed, which is clearly parodying the style of action movies and hilariously contrasting the non-interesting actions in the scene. I wish more movies would incorporate this style as this is one of the best aspects of the film.

Another brilliant aspect of the film is the chemistry between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who seem like two opposite sides of the spectrum, one being all serious and believing in justice and the other just wanting to enjoy the action side of police work, but both work incredibly well together as they do in real life and with this, you really get to see the buddies in this buddy cop movie. All the other co-stars are just as brilliant, with the underrated Jim Broadbent as the Chief Inspector and Timothy Dalton as the charming yet suspicious Simon Skinner, they are all along for the ride and I love every moment they are on screen.

The soundtrack is fantastic, mixing a lot of classic songs from the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, that match scenes perfectly, with one great example being Adam and the Ants’ “Goody Two Shoes” playing in the background.

There is also a lot of great circular storytelling, which you begin to notice as you watch multiple times, for example, when Tim Messenger is killed with a church spire earlier on in the movie, Simon Skinner, one of the perpetrators of his death, is impaled in the throat by a church spire in the model village later on in the climax. That is incredibly impressive and adds to the long list of admirable things about this one film.

In the end, I would have to give this film nothing less than it deserves, a 10 out of 10 or an A+. I don’t think I’ll ever see a film like this in the future but I’ll still go to the cinema, hoping there might just be something that could be just as perfect as this.