The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

The official student newspaper of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire since 1923.

The Spectator

In Review: Hot Fuzz

Right off the bat, “Hot Fuzz” star Simon Pegg has a difficult task ahead of him.

Usually typecast as a lovable loser, Pegg first has to go against the norm and be convincing as suave London cop Nicholas Angel.

Humor is used to overshadow the ridiculousness of Angel’s arrests, and as a result it’s hard to dislike him for his questionable decisions. Eventually his love for making arrests catches up with him and he is transferred to countryside England.

It’s easy to feel bad for Angel when it happens, a sign of how well the film does early on of making the best of an otherwise potentially bad situation. But a large portion of the film is dedicated to showing how boring life is for the man when he is located in a place where no arrests can really be made. Perhaps a scene or two may have done the trick for getting the message across. But for some reason the film appears to want to make the audience feel as bored as Angel does in the scenes where he isn’t making arrests.

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Luckily, the countryside experiences a disturbance in the form of a sudden rise in accidental deaths. Although everyone besides Angel believes it to be an unfortunate coincidence, Angel suspects a killer to be on the loose and launches an investigation.

If the film were to be broken into thirds, the last third would be its best. Not only does the action, suspense and humor pick up, but an incredible amount of back story is given to the established cast of interesting characters.

Despite the film’s plot, “Hot Fuzz” also enjoys poking fun at cliché Hollywood action movies. Films like “Point Break,” “Bad Boys 2,” and countless others become the target of some hysterical jokes, but also some much needed commentary on what has become a worn-out genre. Without this, the film as a whole wouldn’t be unique and potentially would be off putting when Angel just explores the town without making an arrest.

“Hot Fuzz” is incredibly similar to one of Pegg’s other films – “Shaun of the Dead.” Whereas “Shaun of the Dead” targeted zombie films, “Hot Fuzz” tackles the more popular action genre, meaning more people will get more out of it. Pegg does a better acting job in this one as well, and the writing overall is much better, too. The result is a decent movie that is good for a number of big laughs.

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In Review: Hot Fuzz