Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is an interesting movie experience.  I found it to be a slick and funny, but unwelcome comedic ode police action movies like Point Break and Bad Boys 2.  The film stars Simon Pegg as Nicholas Angel, a workaholic who is transfered from the London Police force to a small village in the country called Samford.  Pegg may be the best leading man in the comedic film today.  Along with being very funny, his ability to play an interesting and likable character turned the predictable plot of Run Fat Boy Run into a very enjoyable experience.

Hot Fuzz was written by Pegg and Edgar Wright (the director of the film).  Wright, Pegg, and co-star Nick Frost constitute the same winning combination that made Shaun of the Dead a success.  Their contributions to Hot Fuzz produce a similar film (no complaints) right up to the ending sequence.  At the beginning of the film I was ready to crown it as one of my favorite comedies in my Facebook status, but that was not how the movie turned out.  What started as a very well-crafted, well-paced, comedy became a collage of gruesome sequences of violence.

I mentioned that the film was very much an homage to crime-fighting action flicks so I admit that my not being a fan of action movies may be my reason for not liking it so much.  But I also feel like the idea for the ending would sound very good on paper to my quirky sense of humor.  So many of the popular action movies in theaters now promote messages of nonviolence (Iron Man, Indiana Jones, and Prince Caspain).  Hot Fuzz seemed to glorify violence and I was not expecting that.  After finishing the movie I felt a slight urge to pick up a kitchen knife sitting the the counter, just to hold it.  Though I can't recommend the message that I got out of Hot Fuzz, I will say that (if you have no aversion to violence) it is a fun ride the whole way through.

EDIT

I think I may have been a little hard on the movie.  

I now understand the violent final sequence as a parody of action movies that include scenes of excessive violence and I realize that it worked very well.  I expected something else, but got violence.  I think that was intended because in so many action movies violence is used to solve dilemmas that can easily be solved other ways.  I still don't like seeing violence in movies so I was frustrated by Hot Fuzz, but it's simply a matter of preference.  Hot Fuzz is too good for me to be so critical.