Nicholas Angel is the finest cop London has to offer, with an arrest record 400% higher than any other officer on the force. He's so good, he makes everyone else look bad. As a result, Angel's superiors send him to a place where his talents won't be quite so embarrassing -- the sleepy and seemingly crime-free village of Sandford. Once there, he is partnered with the well-meaning but overeager police officer Danny Butterman. The son of amiable Police Chief Frank Butterman, Danny is a huge action movie fan and believes his new big-city partner might just be a real-life "bad boy," and his chance to experience the life of gunfights and car chases he so longs for. Angel is quick to dismiss this as childish fantasy and Danny's puppy-like enthusiasm only adds to Angel's growing frustration. However, as a series of grisly accidents rocks the village, Angel is convinced that Sandford is not what it seems and as the intrigue deepens, Danny's dreams of explosive, high-octane, car-chasing, gunfighting, all-out action seem more and more like a reality. It's time for these small-town cops to break out some big-city justice.

I love the fact that film buffs like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and now Simon Pegg are changing the parody, the cheap inferior rip off into something more meaningful, something grander, a new genre of film the tribute picture. While Tarantino and Rodriguez do it in a very over the top American style with flashiness and gratuity, Pegg on the other hand does in a very British way, more subtle but just as great and just as fun to watch. I mean Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright have obviously watched thousands of cop buddy movies, and just like you or me have laughed at them, enjoyed them and in the end just wanted to emulate them in their own way. The ending is so grandiose, so ridiculously over the top that it would fit well into any screamingly loud Jerry Bruckheimer glove like OJ’s hand fit into that glove. You make it look like it didn’t fit, you make grand gestures but in the end the glove fit and that’s the beauty of the film. The ending is over the top, so out of place but the movie wouldn’t have worked without it, it wouldn’t have been as great or as funny.

Another thing that I love is that maybe with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost taking over the box office we might get to see more subtle and more outlandish British humor in the cinemas in the near future. Their TV shows have started invading with the Office now we need to see more movies with the subtle and off the wall kind of humor also infect our movies. I mean Hot Fuzz is fresh, even though it’s a tribute film it still feels new and different and that is a wonderful thing nowdays where every other movie that comes out of Hollywood seems to be either a remake or a sequel or a sequel to remake. Just looking at the summer season makes me quesy and excited at the same time as six movies come out with the number 3 in their title. So to see original, funny ideas and plot lines like Hot Fuzz makes its way to the Cineplex it warms my heart. I mean the idea of the buddy cop, the over the top action sequences, the gun fights, the car chases might not be new the plot is and the story is and they are all meshed together in something that is funny, enjoyable and exciting.

I like Simon Pegg he has the chops as an actor to probably be the next main stream kind of Tom Cruise but he prefers to be the off kilter funny man giving homage to the films he loves even if they might be a guilty pleasure. And Nick Frost compliments him perfectly as the utterly goofy, somewhat dim witted and charming sidekick. I mean Gibson and Glover were both cool as were Smith and Lawrence even if Martin comes off as one of the whiniest cops ever but not Nick Frost he is like that giddy kid in a candy store just enjoying being there and having fun doing so. They don’t try to make him suave or gloss him up, he’s the buddy in the buddy cop film what more do we need. The film also sports a fine cast of bit parts with my favorite being Roger Moore in full Bond attitude as a supermarket manager with an ego trip. If you like to laugh, you like homages or maybe just some outlandish action ala Jerry Bruckheimer Hot Fuzz should tickle you pink.

Grade: A