Llama Movie Review: Hot Fuzz

Had a big afternoon at the dollar movie last weekend. That sentence pretty much sums up the adventure that is my life. But, leaving aside my personal tediousness, Hot Fuzz was a dollar well spent.

If you know anything about the guys who made this movie, you know they were also responsible for Shaun of the Dead and the BBC sitcom Spaced. My pal, Snackpack4000, has given me all of the episodes of Spaced on (rhymes with "loot-begged") DVDs. When I finally get around to watching them I'll let you know what I think.

But I loved Shaun of the Dead, so I was psyched to see Hot Fuzz. It opens with a montage of Officer Nick Angel's career of over-achieving activities on the London police force . . . to the tune of Adam Ant's "Goody Two-Shoes." Wonderful opening to a very funny film.

They used terrific tunes, pop music old and new, throughout the film to comment on the scenes at hand. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg more or less reprise their relationship from Shaun of the Dead, but you love to watch this friendship in action and they translate it in such a convincing way that you don't think of Nick as a zombie . . . for long anyway.

I hate reviews that give away scenes or re-cap the plot. So - none of that here. I will say that there are many very bloody scenes leading up to the Michael Bay-style shoot-out at the end. If you are too squeamish to watch Shaun of the Dead, you won't do well with this film either. I'm not a big fan of gore, but I've overlooked it considering how intelligently this movie lifts themes from sources as diverse as the original "Wicker Man" and Western genre films like "Tombstone." They use the visual jargon of Spaghetti Westerns to hilarious effect.

Summing up, Hot Fuzz is a fine afternoon's entertainment for the smart shopper of humor and violence. A legal, non-lootbegged version of the DVD, will come to live at my house very soon.