Hot Fuzz

I am going to make a confession early here. I laugh at British humor. Hot Fuzz isn't necessarily Monty Python humor, but this film teems with the same dry drama-humor that you find in his work. Some people might find this film as bland as beans and toast but I got some hearty laughs from this film. Hot Fuzz is what a spoof movie looks like when done properly. Many of the mindless spoofs I've seen lately try to do too much and never succeed in making me laugh. Hot Fuzz is a spoof that tells it's own story rather than trying to weave together as much pop culture as possible while attempting to stick to a loose plot line.

The plot involves a London Police Officer who outperforms his peers by 400 percent. His Superiors feel that he is making them look bad, so he is "promoted" to Sergeant and reassigned to a small country town. This town is the epitome of safety, Neighborhood Watch and all. But a dark secret lies beneath the calm. A serial killer starts claiming lives and the new Sergeant finds himself solving a major crime (with the assistance of his newly acquired protege). The story is full of little details, sub-plots, twists and turns. That's great stuff to find in a comedy.

I will start with the writing which was exceptional. This spoof movie actually had a plot. A fairly decent plot at that. A twist here, a turn there...some foreshadowing. You might actually think you are watching a true cop drama. The dialogue is distinctly British. The sharp writing is witty. Taking into consideration the genre, the characters in this movie are actually well developed. I might not make that claim if this were a serious drama, but the writers took time to create quirks and bit of range for the major characters. Some of the characters remained decidedly one-dimensional...which was partly attributed to the fact that this is a comedy and partially to create misdirection. Overall, the writing was about the best I've seen recently in a spoof.

Read More About Hot Fuzz