The Fuzz gets even hotter with this special edition release.
We all know how high expectations were for this one. While Edgar Wright’s classic slacker-culture sitcom Spaced, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (plus the delectable Jessica Stevenson), struggled to find a market outside the UK, it was always a late-night goldmine for high-volume pop-culture driven comedy. That all changed, however, with the boys’ critically acclaimed feature debut Shaun of the Dead, a film that successfully blended best-of-British humour with an outrageous (and at times frightening) spoof of classic zombie flicks. It was a surprising success (at least in as much as it far surpassed anything Wright had touched before), and paved the way for Hot Fuzz, which represented an attempt to build on and exceed Shaun, and take British motion picture comedy to a hilarious new level.
At heart, Fuzz is a hugely affectionate pastiche of buddy-cop action movies past and present, and could even be considered a platonic male love story - that is, if you consider Point Break to be a platonic male love story. Nicholas Angel (Pegg) is a top London copper who finds himself so far ahead of the game that he makes his fellow officers look bad. In a moment of Catch-22 inspired genius, he finds himself transferred to the sleepy country village of Sandford in order to improve the Met’s average arrest rates. Going from busting drug lords to catching AWOL swans, however, doesn’t really sit well with Angel, who finds himself at odds with the lackadaisical attitude of the Sandford P.D., headed up by Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent). Partnered with Frank’s son Danny (Frost), Angel soon begins to uncover dastardly goings-on, with the chief suspect being smarmy supermarket supremo Simon Skinner (Timothy Dalton, and 10 points for the alliteration), all the while bonding with Danny, who treats Angel as a real-life hero.
The dynamic between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost never fails to deliver, and it’s given a nice twist here as Pegg essentially plays the straight man (whereas they’re usually as goofy as each other). Unfortunately this does relegate his character somewhat to the realms of generic-ness, but it’s always going to be hard to imbue such a straight-laced character as Nick Angel with a comedic streak, and to his credit Pegg delivers admirably. Frost is the real highlight though, by turns hysterically funny and genuinely cuddlesome, which has given his BBC sci-fi sitcom Hyperdrive (which you’ll often find me raving about) a well-needed boost. The supporting cast of Fuzz is a veritable ‘who’s who’ of British thespians, with each and every one - Dalton, Broadbent, Billie Whitelaw, Edward Woodward [incidentally, try removing all the D’s from his name and try not to snort with mirth], etc, etc -bringing a real sense of English class to the table. And props to Britain’s most underrated comedian Adam Buxton (of The Adam & Joe Show fame) for grabbing himself a juicy role as a local reporter, even if his fate doesn’t exactly prove desirable… Entertaining cameos abound, too, from Hollywood superstars Gywneth Paltrow and Peter Jackson to British comics Bill Bailey and Steve Coogan.
From the start, it’s obvious that the creators are major film geeks, with the references to filmmakers like Tarantino, de Palma, Argento and more flying all over the place. Thankfully, you don’t get the sense that these are in-jokes that the less educated film viewers will find confusing - instead it’s more of a reward for those of us who’ve watched and enjoyed movies all our life. Perhaps the most surprising thing, though, and something which may seem to be contrary to the point I have just made, is the proportion of Fuzz which is played straight. Oh, there are plenty of gags, most of which hit the mark (for my money, the funniest of which features an old lady getting dropkicked in the face by Pegg), but the film is most definitely not 100% comedy. It’s probably more of a cop movie than Shaun was a zombie movie, and while it certainly succeeds in providing a genuinely entertaining buddy-cop action flick, the caveat is that you really have to have an appreciation for cop movies to get the most out of it. Those of you for whom the referential placenames “Callahan Hill” and “Riggs Street” hold no meaning may well find your attention spans drifting away.
The film does have its flaws, with the stylistic cut-bang transitions in particular wearing thin after about ten minutes - it’s almost as if Wright has placed Guy Ritchie up there with his idols, with some brief sequences ripped straight out of the latter’s Snatch. There’s also an (admittedly necessary) over-reliance on exposition which bogs Fuzz down in places and threatens to detract from the funny. Overall though, the movie is a success, and places all three of its principal contributors firmly on the cinematic A-list - one can only hope they maintain their high standards for the next project they embark upon. Hot Fuzz rivals Borat as the best British comedy of the past few years. And, to be perfectly honest, any film which features an old lady getting dropkicked in the face has to be worth two hours of your time.
DVD info
The DVD reviewed is the region two widescreen edition; also available in region one are full and widescreen single disc releases with slightly fewer bonus features. The feature running time is 1 hour and 56 minutes. Video transfer is 2.35:1 and is pretty good quality, although the CGI isn’t always up to top standards. Audio is Dolby 5.1 and is very punchy, which works well with the sound effect overload the film offers. Subtitles available are English, French and Spanish; the language track is English.
Extras
Pardon the expression, but bugger me sideways, there’s an absolutely mint assortment of material on offer her. Nevermind the obligatory theatrical trailers, posters, photo galleries and storyboards (although they’re all present and correct), there’s a wealth of stuff to get stuck into. The first disc contains several quick gags, namely a few scenes where swearwords have been replaced with random other words (‘Hot Funk’), a scene where Pegg delivers his lines in a Michael Caine accent and then mugs to the camera (‘The Man Who Would be Fuzz’), and a closeup flickbook animation of a guy being run over. The real attraction here though is a selection of four audio commentaries, each more entertaining than the last - naturally, the best features Wright and Pegg waxing lyrical about their creation, and is possibly the best DVD commentary I have heard yet.
Disc two provides the majority of the bonus material. Take a deep breath now, for we have:
Twenty two deleted scenes, each with commentary
Thirteen short video blogs that were posted online in the run-up to the film’s release
Eight featurettes detailing everything from the insane minutae of the production design to the presence of the cast’s families in cameo roles
A highly entertaining “making of” lasting half an hour
Three narrated storyboards covering specific plotholes in the film (very similar to the feature on the Shaun DVD)
Eight before/after examinations of particular CGI effects sequences
And last but not least, Edgar Wright’s ridiculously amusing student film Dead Right, replete with a short documentary and not one but two commentaries
Good golly. And the best thing is, very little of it is filler. Dead Right’s low-budget comedy does grate after a while, and the deleted scenes were obviously deleted for a reason, but apart from that it’s hard to find fault. Top notch.
The 411: Well, what a package. Pegg and Wright really know how to reward the faithful viewers, and their total passion for the medium is evident through every minute of this collection. It’s not the greatest film, but it has a fair few laughs and does present a uniquely British take on the genre, so if you enjoyed it even a little - or you’re just a fan of the guys’ work - then this DVD is well worth picking up. Even if only to see the old lady get dropkicked in the face.
