Hot Fuzz - The Greater Good
Wright wears his influences on his sleeve throughout the film, using Danny as a literal reference machine many times throughout the film, yet he transforms these influences and references into a fantastic hypothesis that you can't help but admire. It is an effort to prove that you can take these action films, lower the stakes and dedicate them to a realistic and measured police force. I love how Wright makes this film such an essentially British observational comedy but doesn't make it predictable or repetitive with the comedy. He has such a strong concept and set of characters that the comedy almost writes itself and this is where Wright separates himself from the rest as he commits to unique and refreshing comedy and a genuinely fascinating mystery. As a very different character than Shaun, Simon Pegg plays the wonderful Nicholas Angel (or is it Angle?) and he works so hard to make this character the centrepiece. Angel represents the bureaucratic police officer through and through, he is dedicated to his job and is ridiculously obsessed with strict and 'proper' police work. he works as an obvious juxtaposition to the setting and is the basis for Wright's thematic throughline as he explores personal and collective ideology from a really empathetic and fascinating way. I adore how much attention goes into Wright's narratives, he is a thorough and dedicated director and 'Hot Fuzz' is one of the best examples of his skill.
The phrase 'Greater Good' is not only the most addictively quotable line in the film but the entire point of the film. As someone who lives in a small village scarily similar to that of Stamford, the first act places Angel as almost an antagonistic force on the first watch and I find that really interesting. Angel obviously doesn't belong in this village and you tend to side with the village members for the petty crimes. The 'Greater Good', before the reveal, feels very reasonable and Wright doesn't paint Angel in that much of a favourable way, you sympathise with Danny and the village a lot more. On rewatches you tend to realise that Angel is an incredibly damaged character, his obsession with the force comes from a place of trauma and it has turned away a lot of the people around him. His dedication is a genuinely sympathetic character trait and in the third act, Wright turns the table and basically proves him right in the third act transforming him into the badass action star the film teases throughout. I love how essentially the conflict revolves around the same ideology but different perspectives, they both work on this idea of 'Greater Good'. Angel works by the book because he is also working towards the 'Greater Good', that is why he is a police officer and the way he is. The village represents a common objective but the dangers of living that loose ideology to the extreme. Wright isn't just paying his tributes to the action films but he is paying tributes to the police service and everything they do. He acknowledges that too many action films play so ridiculously loose with the police force and it's beautiful that Wright proves that sacrificing reality isn't essential in creating a compelling police drama. Wright has not only created one of the best comedy ever made but he made an incredible police drama with the paperwork intact.
Throughout the film, Wright sticks true to his style and form yet adapts it perfectly to this new genre. He was made to direct a mystery film due to his obsession with recurring elements, set-up and his rhyming narratives. The mystery is kind of a non-mystery in the end, the focus isn't really on the whodunnit element when the third act comes around, the reveal is fantastically subversive exposing something that Wright placed before us several times. The NWA is mostly a joke in the first half, their obsession with little discrepancies and weird dedication is framed as Wright's comedic satire yet it is basically Wright spoiling the film for you from the very start. And in the end, the film is about a village trying desperately to win 'Village of the Year' by any means necessary and it is a wonderful subversion from what we expect whilst also being one hell of a brilliant reveal. Then the film goes full action and this is when Wright shines, committing to every trope and making it feel like such an authentic action film. I can't get over how enticing and entertaining that third act battle is as the style gets to breathe and it is just glorious. Technically this film is beautiful, Wright's editing style is unbeaten and I love every second of it, he has matured from 'Shaun of the Dead' and the film feels polished and impressive. So many scenes are memorable purely due to Wright's flair and dedication there is no amount of words that can sum up just how brilliantly he puts his films together. Everything pays off wonderfully, everything is approached with such genuine love and appreciation for the art of cinema.
I have so much love for this film's cast and comedy that I'm just going to rattle off some of my favourite moments, characters and scenes because I would hate myself if I didn't mention them. Nick Frost brings it as Danny with that hilarious accent and emotional pathos (especially during the confrontation with his father). Timothy Dalton as Skinner showing up at each murder sight basically making him suspect No.1 and that shot of him next to the award always cracks me up. Olivia Coleman making me cry with laughter at every euphemistic line, Kevin Eldon as the least useful police offer (the 'perfect Sunday' joke is incredible) and of course Rafe Spall and Paddy Considine as the hilarious Andys who have the best jokes in the film without a doubt. Adam Buxton, Steve Coogan, Stephen Merchant, David Bradley, Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, Bill Bailey and Cate Blanchett all having tiny little hilarious cameos is still insane to me. And my personal favourite being the wonderful Jim Broadbent as Frank who is such a convincing empathetic character and I must quote 'A great big bushy beard!!' far too often.
I made the mistake of rewatching this film whilst writing the review and honestly it took me twice as long because I kept smiling and laughing so much. I love this film so much, I could rewatch it till I die and there isn't a misplaced element throughout. There is a reason this is so highly regarded and I adore revisiting it every few years, the jokes still land, the gore still makes me cringe and I'm still on the edge of my seat every time I rewatch it. I have nothing more to say except this film is officially a British Institution.