5 Things People Love about: Hot Fuzz

“If we don’t come down hard on these clowns, we’re going to be up to our balls in jugglers.”

I’m just going to presume that you have seen this film.  If you haven’t seen it, I suggest you stop lying to me.

The following is my list of characteristics that audiences love about the film Hot Fuzz.  

ONE: The shooting (camera angles, shots etc.)

There are numerous examples of shots in the film Hot Fuzz that are inconspicuously clever, far too many to count.  The jump cuts stand out brilliantly during the action scenes and make even the most mundane chore seem more intense.  An example of this is when the beer is poured into the glass at the pub.  It brings the audience’s attention to the next setting in a way that actually establishes links between the different settings.  The transition between shots is simply excellent.  Another film technique that is employed consistently in Hot Fuzz is the match cut.  This was the technique that brought the red colour of blood to the blinking red signal on Sgt. Angel’s alarm clock.  And the audience enjoys this because it is unique and clever.  Finally, close-up shots are another very common feature in the film that draws the audience nearer.  This is used particularly during conversations, almost as if director Edgar Wright wanted the audience to feel and understand the connection between all of the characters.  Who could forget the shot at the end of the film of Sgt. Angel standing facing a gravestone with the last name of ‘Butterman’?  The audience cannot see the first name, and it is only revealed when Danny steps into the frame and says how lovely the flowers are.

TWO: The dry British humour

What can be said of the dry British humour in Hot Fuzz?  Some viewers may not understand the full extent of the humour because it is so well concealed behind other layers.  That Sgt. Angel actually gets the boot from the London Met police because he was too good is a master class in irony.  It’s a difficult thing to describe, British humour, but for those of you who find it funny, it’s funny because of its dryness, so to speak.  George Merchant, the ‘fridge magnet’, “spends his whole life devoted to the refrigerator and gets killed by an oven”.  Oh, and the swan happens to be “Sandford’s most wanted”.   

THREE: The plot (for its impossibility, mainly)

This film is as entertaining as it is not only because of the humour, but also because of the plot being so fantastical that the audience forgets to doubt it.  This is of course mixed with the film having elements of the truth and what is right and wrong (human interest).  The progression of the film works very well because the suspense grows as soon as Sgt. Angel realises that something isn’t quite as it should be in the sleepy old village of the year.  The moment in the film when the police officers switch their allegiance from the Chief Inspector to the idealistic Sgt. Angel is one twist that really adds to that air of satisfaction that the plot provides.  The many moments of laughter are scattered throughout the film.  One of them was when Sgt. Angel yelled “Punch that shit!” as he and Danny were chasing the Chief – right before the car pulls away to reveal the judges for the best village competition and the banner reading the typical “Welcome to Sandford” becomes parted from its friends the walls.  The chasing of the swan was another hilarious episode because of its absurdity.  Well, it may be absurd but it is also possible – police officers could in theory make animal sounds to call their not-so-human suspects.  

FOUR: Symbols/Themes

Added to the current list of compliments for Hot Fuzz could be that the film is bloody clever.  Its symbols and motifs that appear throughout are meaningful and never random.  If anything, for a film that has such a twisted plot (twisted in a good way), it is strikingly anti-random.  Nothing is without reason.  The inclusion of other films such as Point Break and Bad Boys II are effective homages to the films that were all so entertaining to a wide audience because of their foundations in pure action and suspense.  Hot Fuzz took this level and topped it because of the added humour and dramatic elements in the plot.  One of the symbols in the film is the Japanese peace lily – an escape mechanism and mode of focus for Sgt. Angel because he “can’t switch off”.  In fact, the name “Angel” is equally symbolic for obvious reasons.  Some of the effective motifs are obsession, the moral value of the law, perfection, and, more debatably, everything starting at the pub.  “The greater good” lines also added character to the film and popularised the saying in general.  This article will not go as far as to explore the central themes of the film in depth, but it should be noted that one of the overlooked yet brilliant motifs is simply that of balance.  Sgt. Angel is a character that many of us can probably relate to – that workaholic try-hard who doesn’t seem to have a life outside his experiences in the public sphere.  Except that with the kind of business he had in Hot Fuzz, I think he does enough with his life.  And that leads into the amiability of the characters.

FIVE: The ‘Bromance’ Film

Hot Fuzz is essentially a ‘bromance’ film.  What does that mean?  It means that the film has an absence of traditional love.  The two men in the film are nothing more than best mates – two brother-types who watch each other’s backs until the end.  It appears to be a very modern genre.  More than that, Sgt. Angel never gets back with another woman after leaving London and splitting with his girlfriend.  That goes a long way to say that friendship helps a lot.  And these two actors do work undeniably well together, not only in this film but also in Shaun of the Dead, Paul, and Run Fatboy Run (Simon Pegg).  In Hot Fuzz, Danny is a comic character for what comes out of his mouth and his bumbling appearance.  The ‘bromance’ seems to work very well for audiences as a break from the status quo.  This may not have been the first of its kind entirely, but it will go down as one of the better ones.

So, that’s all from me – explanations for why people are fans of this film.  Each is more enjoyable than the rest.  “Punch that shit.”