Regardless of whether you're a fan of its offerings or not, you have to hate when any art form is sullied by what can best politely be described as hacks. That doesn't mean any or all of the purveyors must follow the unwritten guidelines or rules to a T, but they should certainly make something that's good or at least noteworthy rather than bland, banal, and/or bad.
While some might not view the spoof or parody movie genre as much of a true art form, there's clearly artistry involved when it's done right, if only for making people laugh. Once upon a time, Jim Abrahams and brothers David Zucker and Jerry Zucker ruled this sort of movie with the hilarious "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" films.
Unlike their contemporary successors, that trio understood that the best parodies simply take their subject matter in a general rather than specific fashion and use that to build a story. And by casting unlikely performers in various roles (think of Leslie Nielsen, George Kennedy, Robert Stack, Chuck Connors and more), they struck critical and box office gold.
Since then, however, most of those who make spoof films focus solely on recreating famous or at least well-known scenes from familiar movies, adding just a slight comedic twist to them. Admittedly, some of them can be funny or at least amusing, but a string of them doesn't make much for a memorable movie comedy experience.
Then, as a blessing for adult viewers longing for a smart and funny parody, writer/director Edgar Wright and co-writer/star Simon Pegg arrived on the scene with "Shaun of the Dead." A parody of zombie films, the film was a literal and figurative blast to watch as British comedy meshed with American movie horror in a highly satisfying and entertaining, if altogether bloody and gory fashion.
The filmmaking duo, along with co-star Nick Frost now return to the spoof genre with "Hot Fuzz," a parody of American-made, cop buddy action pics. Although not quite as tightly focused or hilarious as "SOTD," this offering firmly establishes Wright and Pegg as the worthy heirs to the Abrahams/Zucker/Zucker dynasty. As long as you don't mind the decidedly R-rated comedy-based violence and language (present to more accurately depict the films they're lovingly poking fun at), you'll probably get a kick out of this film, which certainly holds true for this reviewer.
As was the case with the "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" films, the plot isn't anything particularly special and, by its very nature, clearly isn't anything especially novel. Yet, it's a solid framework upon which the cast and crew hang a good number of jokes, some of which are smart and others that are dumb, but all of which are consistently funny.
While there aren't any scene specific moments lifted from the likes of the "Lethal Weapon" or "Bad Boys" films, it isn't hard to recognize the generalities of said offerings when it comes to this film poking fun at them. Accordingly, you'll have to be asleep or completely oblivious to the source material to miss all of the clichés and conventions from a plethora of cop buddy and action pics.
What probably makes much of that work so well, however, and which was also the driving force behind "SOTD" feeling so fresh and funny, is the decidedly British sense of comedy applied to a decidedly American product. Whether inserted as fine details or broadly painted strokes, the dry and droll sense of humor runs throughout the production, from the ultra-speedy montages to the zany characterizations, right up through the big shootout at the end.
Those inhabiting the supporting characters -- including but certainly not limited to Timothy Dalton, Jim Broadbent, Paddy Considine and even Steve Coogan and Bill Nighy in brief cameos -- are obviously having a blast inhabiting their roles, and the sense of fun is contagious. However, Pegg and Frost are the ones who really make the film by doing various riffs on the old, mismatched cop pairing.
To give away any of the gags would be something of an injustice, but let's just say some of the funniest are also the most shocking, mainly pertaining to the way in which various characters meet their untimely and often unexpected demise. Those adverse to gore will probably want to look away, but such moments are so over-the-top funny that it would be a shame to miss them.
Obviously similar to but just a step below "Shaun of the Dead" in terms of laughs, "Hot Fuzz" might not fire out the jokes and zingers in machine gun fashion like its classic predecessors. Nevertheless, it delivers the good consistently enough to earn a rating of 6.5 out of 10.
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