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Nicholas Angel is the finest cop London has to offer, with an arrest record 400 percent 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 Police Chief Frank Butterman, Danny is a huge action movie fan. He 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, gun fighting and all-out action seem more and more like a reality.

Spaced and Shaun of the Dead proved that Pegg, Wright and Frost love their movies and Hot Fuzz continues that trend.

Pegg is excellent as the straight-laced Angel and Frost is equally good as his innocent and loyal pal. Kinda like a big dog. It's their love of films in general and action in particular that makes Hot Fuzz a success - a film like this could easily have gone the route of Scary/ Date/Epic movie awfulness. Hot Fuzz takes the familiar tropes of the action genre and makes us laugh at them, but always with affection.

Super stuff.

A major British hit, a lorryload of laughs and some sparkling action? We?ll have some of that. It?s fair to say that Hot Fuzz proves that Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright?s brilliant Shaun Of The Dead was no one-off, serving up a superbly crafted British homage to the Hollywood action movie.

Deliberately set in the midst of a sleepy, quaint English village of Sandford, Pegg?s Nicholas Angel is sent there because, bluntly, he?s too good at his job, and he?s making his city colleagues look bad. The proverbial fish out of water, Angel soon discovers that not everything in Sandford is quite as it seems, and joins forces with Nick Frost?s lumbering Danny Butterman to find out what?s what.

Hot Fuzz then proceeds to have a rollicking good time in both tipping its hat to the genre films that are clearly its loving inspiration, and coming up with a few tricks of its own. It does comedy better than action, with plenty of genuine laugh-out-loud moments, but it?s no slouch either when the tempo needs raising. One of the many strong cards it plays is its terrific cast, which includes former 007 Timothy Dalton, Bill Nighy, Bill Bailey, Paddy Considine, Edward Woodward and Jim Broadbent.

Hot Fuzz, ultimately, just falls short of Shaun Of The Dead, but more than does enough to warrant many, many repeat viewings. It?s terrific fun, and in the true hit action movie style, all-but-demands some form of sequel. That said, with Pegg and Wright now with two excellent, and suitably different, genres ticked off, it?ll be interesting to see what they do next. A period drama, perhaps...? --Simon Brew

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