Hot Fuzz

Everyone who buys a ticket for Hot Fuzz will do so wondering; "Is it as good as Shaun?" Only an idiot would try to answer that, so here and now I will say yes, yes, YES. From overheard conversations in bars and cinema lifts, it is clear that this view is not shared by all; nevertheless, anyone who enjoys buddy action movies will love it, much as anyone who likes watching non-zombies struggle to avoid being eaten loved Shaun Of The Dead.

Both genres are so full of hackneyed plotlines, cliche-ridden dialogue and over-familiar characterisation that only the most dedicated fan could honestly anticipate the next instalment in any franchise with any degree of joy. What Edgar Wright and his mates do so beautifully is subvert as they celebrate. Only a true fan can parody Bad Boys II while simultaneously worshipping at its altar.

Officer Nick Angel is just too damn good at his job. Nick IS the job - a sharp-shootin' crim-catchin' one-man burglarization solving machine, and he's making all the other cops look bad. Everyone hates being shown up, so the Met do a spring-clean and Nick gets a sideways promotion to deepest, darkest Midsomer Murders land, where his hotshot detecting skills are as little wanted as they are needed, or so it seems...

Yes - perpetual sidekick-man Nick Frost continues to be tiresome and irritating, and Wright's snappily-edited travel montage is less amusing if you have ever watched television in the 21st century, but these are minor faults. This is a very funny film, which face-checks almost everyone who has ever had any degree of success on the UK comedy-film scene, and I long to mention another very famous UK film with regard to the plot, but to do so would give away too much of the ending, so I 'll refrain.

Hot Fuzz is a perfect blend of ridiculously suburban action sequences, affordable special effects, cultural references and hysterical one-liners. Working Title is to contemporary Britain what Merchant-Ivory is to our past, but Edgar Wright shows our best self, the nation we wish we could be. Is Simon Pegg the new Hugh Grant?