Post by Return of the Thin Olive Duke on Mar 1, 2016 21:23:24 GMT -5
Hot Fuzz
Dir. Edgar Wright
Premiered April 20, 2007
The 2000s were a dark decade. The horrors of the September 11 attacks in 2001 cast a shadow over the western world, yes, but even in those innocent days leading up to that terror, an inexplicable melancholy was emerging. This new world was pale, dour, and clad head-to-toe in black. Absent a much-needed sense of common sacrifice and effort, Hollywood decided that we had to become monsters in order to fight monsters. Angst was the law. Fun was the enemy. We didn’t know how to switch off.
It was into this millieu that audiences were first treated to Hot Fuzz, the third directorial feature of Edgar Wright, and the second entry in his Cornetto Trilogy of buddy-centric genre parodies. I don’t know how general audiences reacted when this film came out, but it must have been a welcome shock to the system.
After putting his colleagues to shame with his stellar record, hyper-competent London police sergeant Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is sent away to the West Country town of Sandford, Gloucestershire. Initially repulsed by the parochial residents and lax police, he finds an unlikely friend and partner in Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), an overeager devotee of shoot-em-up cop movies. Although Angel is disdainful of cowboy antics, he soon finds himself in the action flick to end all action flicks when people in the village start dying mysterious and gruesome deaths.
Once upon a time, action movies were looked down upon as pablum for the masses (an idea that filmmakers have occasionally played with). In 2007, parody and genre tributes were either shallow, hateful, or cynically above-it-all. Hot Fuzz taught us how to mock with love for the first time since Mel Brooks was a hitmaker. Today, action movies are finally getting the respect they deserve (as long as they’re not being remade), making Hot Fuzz a prescient trendsetter, as well as a rioutously funny, meticulously crafted, and often quite sweet action-comedy.
Also in Theaters
Theaters on April 20 saw the debut of crime thriller Fracture; the third Kasdan man, Jon, tried his hand at filmmaking with In the Land of Women; and Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale passed the time in horror film Vacancy.
Additional Notes
Hot Fuzz wasn’t the only comedy in 2007 to tackle the subject of platonic male friendship. The other is one of my all-time favorite films. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Next Time: Next
Premiered April 20, 2007
The 2000s were a dark decade. The horrors of the September 11 attacks in 2001 cast a shadow over the western world, yes, but even in those innocent days leading up to that terror, an inexplicable melancholy was emerging. This new world was pale, dour, and clad head-to-toe in black. Absent a much-needed sense of common sacrifice and effort, Hollywood decided that we had to become monsters in order to fight monsters. Angst was the law. Fun was the enemy. We didn’t know how to switch off.
It was into this millieu that audiences were first treated to Hot Fuzz, the third directorial feature of Edgar Wright, and the second entry in his Cornetto Trilogy of buddy-centric genre parodies. I don’t know how general audiences reacted when this film came out, but it must have been a welcome shock to the system.
After putting his colleagues to shame with his stellar record, hyper-competent London police sergeant Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is sent away to the West Country town of Sandford, Gloucestershire. Initially repulsed by the parochial residents and lax police, he finds an unlikely friend and partner in Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), an overeager devotee of shoot-em-up cop movies. Although Angel is disdainful of cowboy antics, he soon finds himself in the action flick to end all action flicks when people in the village start dying mysterious and gruesome deaths.
Once upon a time, action movies were looked down upon as pablum for the masses (an idea that filmmakers have occasionally played with). In 2007, parody and genre tributes were either shallow, hateful, or cynically above-it-all. Hot Fuzz taught us how to mock with love for the first time since Mel Brooks was a hitmaker. Today, action movies are finally getting the respect they deserve (as long as they’re not being remade), making Hot Fuzz a prescient trendsetter, as well as a rioutously funny, meticulously crafted, and often quite sweet action-comedy.
Also in Theaters
Theaters on April 20 saw the debut of crime thriller Fracture; the third Kasdan man, Jon, tried his hand at filmmaking with In the Land of Women; and Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale passed the time in horror film Vacancy.
Additional Notes
Hot Fuzz wasn’t the only comedy in 2007 to tackle the subject of platonic male friendship. The other is one of my all-time favorite films. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Next Time: Next
