Hot Fuzz

We watched Hot Fuzz a couple of nights ago. It's a movie made by the same guys who did Shaun of the Dead. I loved Shaun of the Dead. It was clever, funny, silly but it was still a bloody good, bloody scary, bloody bloody zombie movie. Hot Fuzz is the same, only this time it's a cop movie, but like Shaun of the Dead it works in its genre while simultaneously spoofing the genre, while also paying homage to the genre. I think the pacing is slightly off and there were a few times when my attention wandered (for example, I'm not one for protracted gunfights). However, sometimes the slowness in the build-up is perfect: like the beginning of Shaun of the Dead (which is the best example of foreshadowing I have ever seen), Hot Fuzz has all this deliciously eerie tension and atmosphere, which focuses on seeing the bizarre in the everyday. The editing is virtuosic, for example the journey at the beginning from London to the country town is a truly astonishing and surprising bit of film-making.

I also loved that they spent so much time showing the blossoming and then deepening friendship between the two main characters. What's so beautiful about these movies (yes, I meant to use the word beautiful) is that they both have real heart. The relationships are achingly real, within all the jokes and schlock and viscera and physical humour, and the actors spin from playful to serious on a dime, flawlessly.

Watching Hot Fuzz made me happy. It made me really, really happy.