Hot Fuzz Review Revisited "Playtime's over!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, its been a while since I've posted on the blog, so figured it was about time I got another one done. So, this will be a revisit of a previous post once again (again yes sorry!). So, the post in question is my review of the British action film, Hot Fuzz starring Simon Pegg. 

So, after 18 years, let's take a look and see how this movie fairs...

And the usual warning is coming...

PLOT SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

STORY 

The film follows Sgt. Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) a extremely dedicated, zealous and highly decorated police officer in the London metropolitan police force (or police service as Angel states in the film).  However his colleagues think he does his job too well and in doing so makes the rest of them look bad, so at the behest of the Metro chief superintendent (Bill Nighy) he is seconded to a peaceful village, Sandford, in Gloucestershire.

On his arrival, Angel arrests a bunch of underage youths in the local pub, as well as drunken man, Danny (Nick Frost) who soon turns out to be his new fellow police officer partner.  The next day at the station, Angel meets with the rest of the police officers, and the local inspector Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent) who is also Danny's father.  Angel at first struggles to adapt to the slow paced life in Sandford, and his fellow police colleagues mock him as well for his serious and dedicated nature.

However its not long before a bizzare series of "accidents" happen in the village, starting with the deaths of local solicitor, Martin Blower (David Threlfall) and council worker, Eve Draper (Lucy Punch) who are found decapitated on a country road, in supposed car accident (or traffic collision as Angel points out to Danny).  After this another so called accident occurs, when local businessman, George Merchant (Ron Cook) is blown up in his own home.

At this point Angel becomes suspicious of these so called accidents, especially the following day where the local news journalist, Tim Messenger (Adam Buxton) asks to speak privately with him during a village fete, but before Angel can, Tim is decapitated by a falling statue from the church tower.  Angel grows even more convinced that Messenger's death was a murder as were the other deaths, but again his fellow police officers and Frank are all dismissive.

The following day however, on Danny's birthday, Angel goes into town and goes to the local plant store, where he looks to buy a Japenese peace lilly for Danny (as he owns one himself).  The owner of the store, Leslie Tiller (Anne Reid) reveals to Danny information of a property deal involving, the local supermarket manager, Simon Skinner (Timothy Dalton) who goes out to get his note book to record the info, when all of sudden a cloaked figure stabs Leslie in the throat with gardening shears.  Angel chases the cloaked figure through a field but he loses sight of them, as the masked murderer flees.

Back at the station Angel is now totally convinced that Leslie was murdered and the other deaths were murders as well, and he goes to the Somerfield supermarket, managed by Skinner, and confronts him.  Skinner naturally denies being involved in any of the deaths, and he let's him "spool through" the supermarket's security video footage which shows that he was there all day.

After this Angel becomes dispondent that he is getting nowhere, but then it dawns on him there could be more than one killer.  Angel takes this theory to Frank who is again dismissive, telling him that the village's former predecessor to Angel suffered the same delusions and drove him to a nervous breakdown. Frank advises Angel to sleep on it and if he feels the same way in the morning they will do something about it.

On returning to his hotel room, Angel is attacked by a cloaked figure, who turns out to be the local trolley man, Michael (Rory McCann).  Angel knocks him unconscious with his Japenese peace lilly, and picks up Michael's radio, on which we hear Skinner's voice, Angel pretends to be Michael, and Skinner gives him the command to go to the church.  On arriving at the church we see Skinner and all the other members of the Neighbourhood Watch Alliance (NWA for short) are there, all dressed in black cloaks.  Angel soon arrives and confronts them all, as the NWA are about to capture him, Angel runs for it but is soon stopped by Danny who stabs him in the chest.

Later on Danny drives out of the town and let's Angel out of his car boot, as he reveals that he use a sachet of tomato ketchup to make it look like he had stabbed him.  Angel tries to persuade Danny to come with him and arrest the NWA, but Danny refuses as he says his dad would make it all disappear, leaving Angel with no option but to leave.  

Angel however at a petrol station sees a couple of DVDs, Point Break and Bad Boys II (which he and Danny watched earlier in the film) which inspires Angel to head back to the village and confront the NWA and put an end to their reign once and for all......

THOUGHTS 

Hot Fuzz, is easily the best of the three films in Edgar Wright's "Cornetto trilogy" as it is the perfect mixture of action and suspense and comedy.  Here, the director, Edar Wright, and stars Pegg and Frost make a really amusing homage to all the Hollywood action films you may have seen.  And its nice how they take the rustic film setting of the village, and by the end we see the village has been turned into a wild west shootout as Angel takes on the villanous NWA (which is a playful take on the same name of the hip-hop group, NWA).  The film also has a really good plot as it has more of a structure to it than Shaun of the Dead had, which was basically trying to evade and survive the zombie outbreak, but here we have a mystery which Angel has to solve.

The film also has some really entertaining action sequences, particularly the big long shootout in the village near the end of the film, where (SPOILER!!!!) Angel goes back to the town to take down the NWA.  And in those scenes its almost like watching a video game, where the villagers, even the pensioners all have shotguns and and 9mm berettas!  Hot Fuzz also even pokes fun at Shaun of the Dead in a couple of scenes, especially in the scene where Danny and Angel are in the supermarket, and Angel chases a shoplifter, while Danny looks at the DVDs and he drops one, which is the cover of Shaun of the Dead (which is re-named Zombies Party).

PERFORMANCES AND NOTABLE SCENES (Warning: this section may contain spoilers!!)

The performances in Hot Fuzz are also excellent with a great cast. 

Starting with Simon Pegg in the main role as Nicholas Angel doing a great job, playing the straight man, about as straight as you can, as Angel is a man who takes everything he does so seriously, and he can't switch off his job, as he lives and breathes it and its up to Danny to try and lighten him up.

And as the star of the film, Pegg naturally has his share of good scenes such as the one where, Angel is told by his superiors in London that he is to be transferred to Sandford, pretty much against his will.  And as Angel is told by the chief inspector (Billy Nighy) Angel protests "With respect, sir, you can't just make a person disappear" and the chief inspector says "Yes, I can, I'm the chief inspector!".  However, Angel remains defiant and he says to his superiors "Well however you spin this, there's one thing you haven't taken into account. And that's what the team are gonna make of this!".  And as Angel walks out he sees the team all waiting for him with a big banner saying "Good luck Nicholas".

Another good scene is when Angel runs after a shoplifter and stops and gasps for breath, and says angrily "you mothers!" and we see a group of mothers pushing prams!  And as Angel continues his pursuit of the shoplifter, he decides to take a shortcut by jumping over some back garden fences and Angel turns to Danny and says "What's the matter, Danny?  Never taken a shortcut before?" and he leaps over the fences with ahtletic prowess, leaving an impressed Danny to try the same but he crashes through the first instead.

Then there is the scene where Angel chases the murderer of Leslie Tillers through a field but he loses sight of them.  And back at the police station, Angel furiously puts a pound in the station's swearbox (as its £1 for saying fuck) and he angrily tells the others that "LESLIE TILLERS WAS FUCKING MURDERED!!!".  And one of the detectives, Andy Wainwright (Paddy Considine) asks Angel "Just like Tim Messenger?" and Angel shouts "Yes!" and Andy asks "George Merchant?" again Angel shouts "Yes!" and Andy asks "Eve Draper?" and again Angel shouts "Yes!" and Andy finally asks "And Martin Blower?".  However at this point, Angel sarcastically replies "No, actually" which surprises Andy who asks "Really?" to prompt Angel to yell "COURSE HE FUCKING WAS!!!" and Danny drops in another coin and Angel shouts "THANK YOU, DANNY!".

Then we have the scene where Angel is attacked by the big shopworker, Michael (Rory McCann) and as they fight, Angel throws Danny's prize from a village fair, a big stuffed monkey at Michael, who suddenly smiles childishly at it.  However he is interrupted by Angel who holds his Japanese peace lily over his head and he says "Hey, big un!  Playtime's over!" and he smashes the potted plant over Michael's head and knocks him out.  And not long after Angel leaves a message for Frank Butterman, Danny suddenly turns up and Danny asks him "What are you gonna do?" and Angel tells him of the NWA "I'm gonna bust this thing wide open!".

Another good moment comes when Angel, who dispondently leaves Sandford after he is saved by Danny from being lynched by the NWA, he stops off at a petrol station and he suddenly spots a stand holding DVDs and he sees the two action films "Point Break" and "Bad Boys II" sitting side by side.  And the station worker asks Angel, who is deep in thought "Sir, is there anything else I can do for you?" and Angel turns to him and says "No, this is something I have to do myself!" and he buys some bottles of coloured spray and some sunglasses.

And lastly there is the scene where Angel confronts Frank in a local pub after Angel and Danny have a gunfight with the barstaff and the NWA members in the village square.  And Angel persuades the other police officers, who turn up wearing riot gear that Frank is corrupt and he says to one of the officers, Tony (Kevin Eldon) "You've been brainwashed, Tony. Brainwashed into naivety by an old man with a murderous obsession!".  And he continues to explain to the officers "Sandford is a lie!  For the last 20 years, the village has been controlled by Frank and the NWA. They've lulled everyone into thinking this is a perfect village and killed anyone who's threatened to change that!".

Nick Frost is also pretty good as Danny, with whom the two of them quickly develop a close friendship and become partners (not in the romantic sense, although their friendship does have a somewhat unintentional homoerotic undercurrent!).

And Nick has plenty of good moments, which includes the one where Angel gives a talk to children at school with Danny present.  And at the end, Angel asks "Are there any questions?" and Danny puts his hand up and Angel warily asks "Yes?" and Danny asks "Is it true when you shoot a man in the head, there's a place where it will blow up?!" and Angel just rolls his eyes.  

Angel tells Danny why he became a police officer.  And Angel tells, Danny "I don't remember a time when I didn't want to be a police officer... apart from the summer of 1979 when I wanted to be Kermit the Frog".  So, after Angel finishes his story and tells him why he became a police officer, Danny says "Shame" and Angel asks "How so?" and Danny tells him "I think you would a have made a great Muppet" and they both share their first laugh together.

Then there is the scene where after a night out, Angel tells Danny how he thinks he can't switch off from his job.  So, in the scene Angel tells Danny "I just want to be good at what I do" and Danny says "You are good at what you do, you just need to switch off that big ol' melon of yours!" and Angel sadly says "That's just it, Danny.  I don't think I know how".  So, Danny looks at him and says "I'll show you how" and he get's up and goes over and opens two sliding doors to reveal a large library of DVDs.  So Danny, holds up two DVDs to Angel and asks "Point Break or Bad Boys II?" and Angel asks "which one would you think I would prefer?" and Danny says "no, which one do you want to watch first?!" and Angel says "You are pulling my leg!".

Another good scene from Nick comes when Angel and Danny, not long after Tim Messenger's murder, stand outside in the rain to keep watch and they are approached by the two detectives named, Andy, Cartwright (Rafe Spall) and Wainwright (Paddy as previously mentioned).  And in the scene, Andy W grumpily says to Angel "Not everyone's a murdering psychopath. It's high time you realized that. You and your monkey!".  And as they walk away, Danny looks offended and he holds up his cuddly monkey, which Angel won earlier for him and says "Did he mean me or that??!".

So, after the two Andy's go, Danny gives up wanting to stand guard over the church, where the murder happened.  And Angel angrily tells Danny "There's always something going on, Danny. And you won't be an amazing police officer until you understand that!" and Danny says to Angel "Well, I remembered something you said an all" and Angel says "What's that?!" and Danny says "You don't know how to switch off!".

Then there is the scene in the pub just after the gunfight with the owners, the rest of the Sandford police service turn up in riot gear along with Frank, who is armed with two guns and Angel tries to convince the others that Frank and the NWA are corrupt.  And as Frank says "This is ridiculous!" Danny sadly tells him "No, it's not, Dad. It's very unridiculous. And it's only now that I'm starting to realize how unridiculous it all is!".  Frank furiously then shouts "Silence, Danny!  Think of your mother!" and Danny says "Mum is dead, Dad. For the first time in my life, you know, I'm glad. If she could see what you've become, I think she'd probably kill herself all over again!".

And last of all is the scene during the standoff in the supermarket where Angel has just knocked out big Michael and throw him into a freezer of frozen foods.  And Danny asks "Where is the freezer boy?" and Angel tells him "He's in the freezer!" and Danny asks "Did you say "cool off"?!" and Angel says "No, I didn't say anything" and Danny says "Shame".  But, Angel does tell Danny "Well, there was the bit that you missed where I distracted him with the cuddly monkey then I said "play time's over" and I hit him in the head with the peace lily!" and Danny grins and says "You're off the fuckin chain!!".   

Jim Broadbent who is always reliable is similarly excellent here as Frank Butterman, who is so cheerful and benign on the outside, but he harbours a dark secret underneath it all.

Broadbent also of course has his share of good moments but I will only mention a few such as the scene where Frank first talks properly to Angel at the station and he tells him of Angel's predecessor.  So Franks says to Angel "Your predecessor assumed that rural policing was easy. Ended up having a nervous breakdown. And Sergeant Popwell was an exceptional officer, truly exceptional. And he had one thing you haven't got". And Angel asks "What's that, sir?" and Frank shouts out "A great big bushy beard!  Come on, I'll show you around!".

Then there is the scene not long after the previous one where Frank and the others sit around eating chocolate cake and as Frank asks "Well that's that. Unless there's something else your unclear about" and Angel asks "Yes, sir. Why is everyone eating chocolate cake?".  And Frank replies "The Black Forest gateau is on Danny. As punishment for his little indiscretion" but Angel insists "Sir, I don't think driving under the influence can be called a "little indiscretion.".  So, Frank temporarily allays Angel's annoyance by saying "No, the gateau is for misplacing his helmet the other week. Last night's incident will require something rather more serious" and Angel, satisfied says "Good".  But Frank then asks Angel "Do you like ice cream?" and Angel says "I'm sorry, sir, I don't follow" and Frank grins and says "Let's just say that we won't be short of Chunky Monkey for the next month!".

Another good scene is where Angels confronts the NWA and he says to them "How could this all be for the greater good?!" and the group chant "the greater good!" and Angel shouts "SHUT IT! These people died for no reason, no reason whatsoever!". However at this point, we hear a voice say "Oh, I wouldn't say that!" and Angel turns around to see Frank stand behind him. So, Frank explains the tragedy of his wife dying and also he intends to make Sanford the greatest village. So, Angel shocked asks "So, this is all about winning the best village award??" and Frank says "This IS the best village, Nicholas, the people are happy, contented" but Angel says "They're living in a dream world". Frank however then says "Well, we had to get everything ready, the adjudicators arrive tomorrow" and Angel angrily says "Well, I'm sorry but you will have to come with me, you will ALL have to come with me!" and Frank defiantly says "No, Nicholas, it is YOU that needs to come with us!" and the NWA all stand up with their pitchforks and weapons raised. 

And lastly there is the scene where Angel and Danny confront Frank in the pub near the end of the film where they engage in a stand-off situation with Frank pointing his guns at them.  And Frank is outraged when his fellow officers take sides with Angel and Danny, which prompts him to yell "You're not seriously gonna believe this man, are you?! Are you?!! HE ISN'T EVEN FROM AROUND HERE!!!".  And after Andy Wainwright, who finally believes Angel, says to Frank "Maybe, its time to give it up, sir" Frank yells "You incompetent flatfoots!!!" and he shoots the chandeliers from the ceiling so he can escape.

Timothy Dalton next up is simply brilliant as the villainous Simon Skinner, who owns the local supermarket and he blatantly rubs up Angel the wrong way and is pretty transparent in his deviousness.  Dalton looks like he is having a ball in this role and no wonder as he simply relishes the great lines he is given here.

And its fair to say that Dalton has his share of good scenes such as his first one where Skinner first meets Angel while Angel is out for a jog and Skinner runs up to Angel and says to him "Lock me up, I'm a slasher!" and Angel, puzzled asks "What?" and Skinner tells him "I'm a slasher....of prices!".  Then, Skinner laughs and tells Angel "Just kidding. I'm Simon Skinner. I run the local supermarch. Drop in and see me sometime. My discounts are criminal. Catch me later!" and he runs off.

Then there is the scene after, Martin Blower and his leading lady (and girlfriend on the side) have just finished appearing in their am-dram production of Romeo and Juliet.  So, after the show in the pub, Skinner takes Angel aside and says to him of the play "Absolute tosh, wasn't it? And annoyingly, the understudies are actually professional actors" and he points to two people "Greg over there was an extra in Straw Dogs and Sheree portrayed a cadaver in Prime Suspect!".  And shortly after they go over to Martin Blower and Eve Draper and Skinner says to Angel "Eve, works in the local council, Sergeant. Quite the lady in the know".  So, this prompts Eve to giggle girlishly and says "I am not" but then Skinner leans into her and says rather sinisterly "Nonsense!  I'm sure if we bashed your head in, all sorts of secrets would come tumbling out!" and she giggles nervously. 

Another good scene is when Angel goes to the supermarket to arrest Skinner and he enters Skinner's office and lays out his case against him.  However at the end of Angel's case, Skinner simply claps his hands and says to Angel "Very entertaining. But I rather think you've been watching too many films!" and at this point, Danny sheepishly steps forward and says "He hasn't!".  Then Angel tries to say how one of Skinner's employees runs a vehicle removal service, which could implicate him in organising the murder of Martin Blower and Eve Draper by staging a car crash.  So Skinner dismisses Angel's claims again and tells him "Sergeant, this is the 21st Century. Many people hold down several jobs. I myself host a life drawing class at the Village Hall. Tina here is a table dancer at Flappers!".

So after this, Skinner tells Angel he would need hard evidence to implicate him in these crimes and Angel, having already accused Skinner of killing his cousin, Leslie Tillers, as being the masked killer
Angel chased.  However when Angel attempts to pull up Skinner's trousers, he sees there are no scars from when the killer crashed through a greenhouse and cut their leg.  So Skinner tells Angel "Sergeant, this is beginning to get embarrassing. How could I possibly be in several places at once? I'm sure the store's security footage will absolve me" and he throws the tape at Angel and grins smugly "Do feel free to spool through!".

And lastly there is the scene near the end where (SPOILER!!!) Angel chases Skinner after busting the NWA's corruption wide open and finding that Skinner is one of the chief members of the group and their chase ends at the model village, where Skinner grabs hold of a young ginger haired boy and holds him at knifepoint with a box cutter.  And Skinner shouts at Angel "Stay back! Or the ginger nut get's it!" but the boy then bites Skinner's hand and Skinner yells out "Owww!  You LITTLE FUCKER!!".  Then after this, Skinner and Angel engage in an intense fist fight and Skinner get's Angel down on the ground and punches him repeatedly shouting "GET OUT OF MY VILLAGE!!" but then Angel grabs Skinner's fist firmly and shouts back "Its not your village anymore!" and he punches him and knocks him down.  

Also to follow this scene up, Skinner afterward yells at Angel "ANGEL!!!!!" as he charges at him with a box cutter knife only to then trip on a toy truck, which causes him to grusomely impale his chin on the model church spire! So, Skinner painfully says "ooooh this really hurts! I think I need some ice cream!" and Angel says "Well, don't worry there is plenty of ice cream at the station!".

As for the other supporting cast members they are also really good, including Billie Whitelaw, as Joyce Cooper, the owner of the hotel that Angel stays at. 

So, I will mention her first main scene where Joyce does a crossword at the reception desk as Angel arrives. So, she reads from the crossword and says "Fascist" and Angel taken aback asks "I beg your pardon?" and Joyce says "System of government categorised by extreme dictatorship". So, Joyce then tells Angel "Now, we've put you in the Castle suite. Bernard will escort you over there" and Angel says "Well, I can probably make my own way up" but then says "Hag!" and Joyce taken aback asks "I beg your pardon???" and Angel politely tells her "Evil old woman, considered frightful or ugly, its 12 down" and Joyce looks at the crossword and says "Oh, thank you!". 

Edward Woodward also does a fine job in a small role as the NWA member, Tom Weaver, who monitors the village's security, and is more concerned with a statue-esque clown than the local hoodies.  And one of his most memorable moments he tells Frank "If we don't come down soon on these clowns, we could be up to our balls in jugglers!".

Last of all is the scene where are the NWA are rounded up at the police station, Weaver then without warning turns up with a blunderbluss flintlock gun and angrily says to Angel "You know what you are? You're a bloody busybody!" So, as he is about to shoot, Danny dives infront of Angel and takes the bullet leaving Angel horrified and yelling "NO!!!!" and he kicks a bucket toward Weaver who is knocked back into the evidence room where he unwittingly activates the sea mine (confiscated early from the farmer). So, Weaver looks on resignedly at his fate and says "Oh no...!" and the mine takes out the entire station.

Paul Freeman also does a great job as the local Reverend, Philip Shooter, who tries to remonstrate with Angel when he comes back into the village to fight the NWA.  So, Shooter pleads with Angel and says "Stop! Stop this, please! Let us stop this mindless violence. Nicholas, my son. You may not be a man of God, but surely you're a man of peace!".  However Angel stands firm and says "I may not be a man of God, Reverend.  But I know right and I know wrong, and I have good grace to know which is which", to which the Rev replies "Oh, fuck off, grasshopper" and gets out his guns.  However in the ensuing gunfire exchange, Angel shoots Shooter in the shoulder, who falls down, shouting "Jesus Christ!!!!".

Paddy Considine and Rafe Spall also make a funny double act, as the two police officers, nicknamed the two Andies (Andy Wainright and Cartwright), with Considine being the funniest out of the two of them.  Considine get's some really funny lines especially when he keeps taunting Angel, as he refuses to believe his conspiracy theories about the deaths in the village, and he says "Murder, murder, murder!  Change the fucking record!". 

Then there is the scene in the supermarket where the cops fight against the supermarket butchers, who throw knifes at them, and Considine get's covered in a jar of sauce, which is smashed, and he screams in pain, but he says to his partner "Its ok, Andy, its only bolognese!".  Also in another funny, the Andies make good use of the swear box installed in the police station, where officers are fined money for saying the f-word, b-word, or c-word.

Stuart Wilson also does very well in his role as the village doctor, Robin Hatcher, who is also a member of the NWA.  And Wilson's most notable scene comes when (SPOILER!!) Hatcher appears during the gunfight sequence with a shotgun and he says to Danny "I brought you into this world, I think it's rather fitting I should be the one to take you out of it. You and your interfering little friend!".  Then, Hatcher cocks his gun and he says to Danny "Now drop them!" and Danny drops his shotgun, which goes off and shoots Hatcher in the foot, who screams in agony and Angel stands over him and says "You're a doctor!  Deal with it!" and Danny adds "Yeah, motherfucker!".

In smaller roles still, Olivia Coleman is good as the local sultry female police officer, who says things such as "I always likes a good midnight gobble!".  And laster even Angel teases her, when one of the Andy's says they need more manpower and Danny, checking the police guidelines tells them that they should say "staffing" because "manpower is sexist".  So, Angel says to Doris "You don't mind a bit of manpower, do you, Doris?" and Doris, shocked says "You cheeky bastard!" and they all laugh.   

Kevin Eldon is also funny as the clueless Sgt. Tony Fisher, who on being introduce sits infront of a whiteboard, with a list of words that inadvertently describe him as being "useless" etc.  And one of Kev's notable scenes comes when at the scene of the Martin and Eve murder scene, Tony says of the decapitated heads of their bodies "Little Brian Libby found them, out on his paper round. Oh, he'll be having nightmares for a while. Must have hit the sign at some speed. Took the whole top off!".

So, looking for help on what to do next, Tony asks Angel "So what do we do?  Sergeant Angel?" and Angel says "Well, we should get a proper cordon off, screen the remains from public view. Close down the road until the ambulance crew arrives, whereupon we should open a single lane of traffic and ease congestion".  And Tony, a bit perplexed, sheepishly says to the others "Very good.  What he said!".

Bill Bailey is also pretty good in his brief dual role, as the twin police officers, Sergeant Turner, who are told apart as one of his tidy hair and the other doesn't.  And Bill's scene where we discover they are twins is good, when just after Angel re-enters the station and arms himself to the teeth to confront the NWA in the village square.

So, the tidy haired Sgt Turner says to Angel "Oh, Sergeant Angel? Someone from London called for you".  However then Angel turns around and we see how serious he looks with his shades on a toothpic in his mouth and Turner smiles nervously and says "I'll tell them, you call back" and Angel leaves.  So, Turner says to his brother "I never knew we had a moutned division!" and we see Turner's untidy haired brother in the background say "Nobody tells me nothing!".

Adam Buxton does not too badly in his role as the rather inept village newspaper reporter, Tim Messenger, who makes a series of spelling errors in the local newspaper, the Sanford Citizen and he get's Angel's name wrong as he calls him "Angle". 

Cate Blanchett also does pretty well in her cameo role as Angel's ex-girlfriend, Janine, who we don't see properly as she is wearing a forensics outfit and a mask that covers her face but we see her eyes as she wears googles.
 
Last of all is the trio of Martin Freeman, Steve Coogan and Bill Nighy, who all have brief roles but are very good in their repsective roles as Met(ropolitan) Sergeant, Met Inspector and Met Chief Inspector.  

I will say a quick bit about the three actors here starting with Martin Freeman and his moment where he tells Angel about his relocation to Sanford. So, the Sergeant asks Angel about his knife injury, he sustained in earlier part of the intro of the film, so he asks "How's the hand?" and Angel says "Still a bit stiff". So, the Sergeant says "You're arrest record is 400% higher than any other police officer, so that's why we're promoting you" and Angel proudly says "I see" and the Sergeant quietly says "In Sanford, Gloucestershire" and Angel asks "Where?" and the Sergeant repeats more loudly "In Sanford, Gloucestershire". So, Angel says "Well I don't want to move, do I have any say in the matter?" and the Sergreant says "Nnnnnoooo!" and Angel says "Well, I'm not happy about this, I want speak to the inspector" and the Sergeant "You can speak to the Inspector but he'll just tell you the same I've told you" as he picks up phone.

So, moving onto Steve Coogan as the inspector, he sits down and asks "Hello Nicholas, how's the hand?" and Angel repeats "Still a bit stiff" and the Inspector asks about Angel's ex girlfriend "How's Janine?" and Angel says "We're no longer together, sir". So, the Inspector asks "Well where are you staying?" and the sergeant says "He's living at the station house, sir" and the inspector says "Well, you're packed alreadty! Nicholas, we are offering you a lovely little cottage in a delightful location". Angel then asks "What am I supposed to say?" and the Sergeant says "Yes?" and the Inspector jokes "Yes, please". Angel however still resists the idea and says "No, I'm afraid I have to...." and the Inspector says "You want to take this higher?" and Angel says "Yes" and the Inspector asks "You want me to bother the chief Inpsector?" and Angel says "Yes I would!" and the Inpsector says "Alright!" and he calls out "Kenneth!".   

So, this brings us onto Billy Nighy who is great in his brief role as the Chief Inspector tells Angel "Now, I know what you're going to say, but the fact is, you've been making us all look bad. If we let you carry on running round town, you'll continue to be exceptional and we can't have that. You'll put us all out of a job!". Angel taken aback says "With all due respect, sir, you can't just make someone disappear" and the Chief Inpsector says "Ohh yes I can, I'm the chief inspector!".

DIRECTOR AND MUSIC 

So, moving onto the direction, Edgar Wright does a terrific job here in the film, and he keeps the action going at a fast pace, and he does a really good job at directing the action scenes, and makes great use of the village setting, which was filmed in Wells in Somerset (which is Wright's hometown).

Wright also employs again the use of frantic paced zoom in shots, just like he did in Shaun of the Dead, and there are some really funny moments, particularly in the pub where we see extreme close ups of pints being pulled.  In other shots we get fast cuts of Angel's travel to Sandford by train and taxi, and also the scene where Angel goes into the petrol station near the end and pays for some bottles of paintspray and sunglasses, and he hands over the money, and we see the change given back, and a bit of a cover of a Cornetto ice cream!

So, its actually quite an accomplished piece of technical film making from Wright but also a cleverly paced and edited film too that shows off again Wright's talent for making funny, frantic visual narratives. 

As for the music the film's score was by David Arnold, who did numerous James Bond scores at that time, and his score here is a good one, which has plenty of dramatic passages in there, as well as one or two homages to the cheesy guitar driven action music scene in plenty of Hollywood movies. The soundtrack also features a number of other tracks from different artists from the 60's and 70's such as The Kinks, The Troggs, Arthur Brown, Dire Straits, The Move and Sweet.  It also features some more contemporary bands such as The Fratellis and also Supegrass, who's song "Caught by the fuzz" is played right at the end (rather fitting of course!).

FLAWS (Warning: this section may also contain spoilers!)

As for flaws....yeah well Hot Fuzz has only probably minor ones but I will mention them.

So, for starters there I found it a bit silly that the local police officers would never suspect foul play with the high level of accidents involved in the village, although Angel tells them later that they have been "brainwashed" by Frank, so I guess that's the perfect front, but even still.  But I guess for the sake of the suspension of disbelief, you just accept that the village coppers aren't too bright and are essentially sheep, who are easily lead.

However when you have some rather dim-witted coppers such as Tony in the film, who is at the scene of the murder of Martin Blower and Eve Draper and they see their heads lying on the ground, not to mention when he later even questions whether it was murder or not at the Leslie Tillers murder scene, you need to ask: how stupid are these guys???!!!  Murder is murder and its pretty evident that no one could possibly fall and trip on their shears (or maybe they could!). 

Then there is the scene where (SPOILER!) Angel get's stabbed by Danny in a pre-emptive move to save him from being killed by the NWA.  I found this one a bit strange that Angel would suddenly get what to do and play dead but he certainly plays along with it all the same and it does end up saving his life.  And its just as well as the NWA didn't end up making sure that Angel was actually dead at this point!

And lastly I find it just a bit incredible how (SPOILER!!) when the police station blows up near the end that they all manage to actually survive the explosion (well except for Edward Woodward's character).  Not only that we get to see that Danny even survives his gunshot wounds as he took the full extent of the scatter gunshot blast in his chest as he dove infront of Angel to save him and for him to survive that is just a bit too far fetched!  But it is only a comedy of course.

Anyway that's me done with the flaws.

SUM UP

So in summing up, Hot Fuzz for me is still Edgar Wright's best film and one of the most enjoyable action comedies in recent years, which actually has a pretty good plot unlike some action moves you might see out there.  In fact given that it is an action film with brains, this is something to totally commend it in the first place. 

But its not just that of course, the film's performances are also great with Pegg and Frost both playing off each other great as Angel and Danny, who are both essentially the straight man and the funny man.  And the rest of the cast are also great particularly Timothy Dalton and Jim Broadbent who (SPOILER!!) are the leaders of the corrupt NWA. 

The film's music score by David Arnold also works very well and the film features a pretty decent selection of pop-rock tracks and Wright himself has to be commended for mixing his frantic visual style along with the comedy and blending the two together with aplomb (God, I hate saying that lol!).

And whatever Hot Fuzz's minor flaws are, they are far outweighed by the film's good points of which it has plenty and its still a great action comedy after 18 years, which I can't even believe its that old!

So, I will rate Hot Fuzz:

9.5 out of 10  

So, that's it for now and I will be back soon with another post.