‘Hot Fuzz’ Remains the Tastiest Cornetto Trilogy Entry

Hot Fuzz
Rogue Pictures

“Could you tell the Inspector I’ve arrived, please?”

In 2007, the creative team of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg released the follow-up to their 2004 smash hit Shaun of the Dead. Moving away from the horror genre (but not entirely), Wright and Pegg delivered another send-up of the over-explored and tired movie motif: the buddy cop film. 

Hot Fuzz would playfully beat this motif into the ground and become the second in the eventual Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, a.k.a. the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, sandwiched between Shaun of the Dead and The World’s End. The namesake comes from the Cornetto brand ice cream eaten by Nick Frost’s characters in the first two films and only referenced in the third. Thematically speaking, the ice cream in Shaun of the Dead is red (for the blood), blue in Hot Fuzz (representing the police), and green in The World’s End (referencing the science fiction-alien element).

All three films are essentially separate tracks on the same artist’s album. Despite all three films telling very different stories, there is no mistaking their creative connection. Hot Fuzz, however, remains the sharpest and, dare I say, most explosive of the bunch. 

Simon Pegg stars as Nicholas Angel, a by-the-book policeman in London. His devout work ethic has not only brought him honors and awards but has drawn the ire of his leadership and his peers. 

Although he is promoted to Sergeant, he is immediately transferred to Sandford, Gloucestershire, a sleepy village far removed from the action of London streets. His new police cohorts are both impressed yet suspicious of Angel. His partner Constable Danny Butterman (Nick Frost), doles out sincere fascination with Angel’s prowess and intelligence. Angel tries his best to instill accountability despite his colleagues being overall incompetent. The Inspector, and Danny’s father, Frank Butterman, prefers to keep minor transgressions under the rug instead of kicking up paperwork. 

“It’s all for the greater good.”

The town elders hold Neighborhood Watch Alliance, or NWA, meetings to discuss town matters. Among the group is the ever-handsome and charming Simon Skinner (Timothy Dalton). The group tries to welcome Angel into the fold, but he keeps his distance. 

After the village hosts a disastrous rendition of Romeo and Juliet, the play’s lead actors are found murdered. This kicks off a series of murders that are routinely labeled as accidents. Not convinced of this logic, Angel and Danny investigate. They uncover a potential conspiracy that incorporates fraud, theft, and jealousy. The truth finally reveals itself as nothing actually close to these potential motives. The NWA has been instinctively killing off individuals that have threatened the mere reputation of Sanford being anything but a perfect utopia. The explanation as to why there hasn’t been a recorded murder in 20 years is because every death since has been marked as an accident or disappearance. And the head of this operation is none other than the Chief Inspector, Frank Butterman himself. 

Angel arms himself and fights back, recruiting a reluctant Danny and the crop of imbecile cops the town has left to assist him. They regain stewardship of the town, sending the NWA to jail. 

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: This plot is absolutely ridiculous. 

But that’s the point. Hot Fuzz doesn’t care about the story it’s telling nearly enough as it cares about how it pushes the audience through it. This is a film about execution. Because the plot is a hodgepodge of cop movie tropes we’ve seen a thousand times already, the liberties that Wright and Pegg take are totally inspired fun. Still, there is a heart underneath all of the parody and theatrics. The growth of Pegg’s Angel turning off his overwrought and rigid sense of morality is gradual and earned. As a sergeant and superior, he is also able to lead his Sanford crew out of inadequacy, producing more capable and efficient police officers. 

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The supporting characters around the village are some of the funniest I’ve ever seen. The two chain-smoking, surly detectives, Wainwright and Cartwright, called “The Andys’“ (Timothy Spall and Paddy Considine) constantly but heads with Angel over principle and procedure. I cannot overemphasize how well Dalton chews the scenery as Skinner. He’s a delicious villain. The rest of the cast is a veritable who’s who among British comedic actors adjacent to the bigger circles of Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Game of Thrones. Familiar faces such as Bill Nighy, Martin Freeman, Olivia Colman, David Bradley, Lucy Punch, and Rory McCann all walk on and off the screen. 

The impetus for Hot Fuzz was Wright’s desire to finally put the British stamp on the “buddy cop film.” In true English fashion, Wright told his story through a satirical lens, crafting a well-dressed parody instead of another statistical shoot-em-up. Over 100 action films were studied, and the script’s development was a lengthy academic process. Wright and Pegg consulted the book “Bigger Little Movie Glossary” written by film critic Roger Ebert and proceeded to shoehorn every action movie cliche that the book mentioned.

There are many praises to be sung about Hot Fuzz. The soundtrack blends ’70s and ’80s punk riffs against a powerful action score. The quick-cut editing featured from Shaun of the Dead is utilized here as well. Variations of gags and jokes seen before in other films are repeated here, but not cheaply. This is a very smart film. The amount of detail and craftsmanship Wright and his crew put in is nothing short of extraordinary. I have personally seen this film more times than I can recall. Yet, I will invariably catch a reference, a prop, a callback, a line of dialogue that I hadn’t before. Each new discovery always lends itself to a higher purpose in service of the story. This film demands multiple viewings.

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The Cornetto Trilogy being pasted right in the middle of a spectacular catalog is no accident. The World’s End was good but arguably the most forgettable of the three. Shaun of the Dead has held the flag of comedy/horror supremacy so well. But despite its fantastic humor and heart, Shaun of the Dead can drone on about responsibility and be a depressing reminder to those still stuck in life’s rut. Hot Fuzz is pure fun. It is a perfect swirl of silly and smarts. It makes the blood boil but leaves you feeling good and satisfied. It’s the tastiest of the Cornetto Trilogy because its flavor never runs out.

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