Here we are with another Edgar Wright title, and as my hero of a director, I have to say that this was difficult to narrow down. This is a part of the now quite famous Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, which also included 'Shaun of the Dead' three years prior, and 'The World's End' a whole six years later. I was very close to making this a sort of "cheat" and including all three of those films, as that trilogy is sort of what seals the deal for Edgar Wright being my all-time favourite director. Although the comedy is similar all the way through, the themes and ideas are very different. So with all due respect, don't be too surprised if I lean into the other two movies a little bit during this write-up. 'Hot Fuzz', however, does win out as the best of the three as most opinions seem to go, and it's not hard to understand why. Something like 'Shaun of the Dead' is still a zombie movie and, nowadays, lends itself to the oversaturation of the genre. Although being released not only the same year but just one month after the remake of 'Dawn of the Dead' was perfect planning or an astonishing coincidence that made 'Shaun' just that much better for its time. As for 'The World's End', it's an incredibly strange and imaginative sci-fi comedy that I really think will require a certain taste. 'Hot Fuzz' is, to put it simply, a buddy cop comedy that pays homage to the genre in a big way. If I were to introduce anyone to Edgar Wright through his films, this is where I'd begin. A buddy cop movie is something everyone is very familiar with, and you don't need to flex your imagination too much to go with it. In fact, the film makes a point of showing us an A-side and B-side in which the A-side is much more realistic and the B-side is where we get a full tribute to the high-octane cop action flicks we all love. It helps that some of the best action movie titles out there are about cops or law enforcement in some way shape or form. 'Beverly Hills Cop', 'Die Hard', 'Bad Boys', 'Lethal Weapon', '48 Hours', 'Point Break' there has been something for everyone, and this is a film that sort of bows to the genre with a great amount of respect. Going back to Wright as a director, and using this as a "first-timer" for anyone curious to see his material, I'd further say that this is a great example of seeing his style. He's quick. He sets things up, gets to the point with little to no effort, and makes damn sure that the audience is having a good laugh every step of the way. At the head of the film is Nicolas Angel (Simon Pegg), which begins to show another bit of Wright's style - naming things, shall we say, appropriately. Beginning with Angel, he's the picture-perfect cop here, abiding by the law perfectly, and being the best of the best of the London Police Force - that is until he starts making everyone look bad by being too good, and getting shipped off to the small town of Sandford, Gloucestershire. In Sanford, he meets his partner, Danny Butterman (Nick Frost); an action-movie-obsessed, somewhat bumbling cop who loves to hit up the pub after hours. Together, the pair try to unravel a mystery involving several murders throughout the town. But while Angel is so sure of so much, the rest of the crew has a tendency to shrug these matters off as simple accidents, insisting pretty much that sometimes "shit happens". In some regards, something like this hits very close to home when you take into consideration where I live, my proximity to where the Paul Bernardo/Karla Homolka murders took place, and the evident ignorance of a LOT of the cops involved in the case (learned through a True Crime podcast). Although this is definitely a three-way combo between comedy, action and mystery, it's interesting that it doesn't hold back on several other elements as well. For example, with a good and surprising share of blood and gore, along with several dark scenes, there's definitely a horror element to this as well. It's a great example of a movie that has something for everyone - especially if you're already a fan of buddy cop films going into it. For as much as I love 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'The World's End', they are much more stand-alone titles that require a certain mind-set, but with 'Hot Fuzz', I feel like anyone can give it a chance and at least enjoy it for its good time - especially the final act, which is mind-blowing the first time you ever see it. I wouldn't mind covering a lot of the British actors that pop up in this all over the place, but I'll be running on far too long, so I'll just link this page. Chances are, there will be a few recognizable names for you. This movie has so much talent behind it, and it's THE one of the three 'Cornetto' titles I don't mind throwing on any old time. But that's not to knock 'Shaun' or 'World's End' down either. If you watch this and love it, I'd say check out the other two as well. It really doesn't matter what order, as they're all separate stories. But I'm going to recommend this as a first-timer for anyone curious about Edgar Wright's overall style (this or 'Baby Driver', which is also quite awesome). If you're at all into the fun of action movie cliches and can appreciate a hell of a lot of homages (apparently over 100 films inspired this!), then definitely check this title out!
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With Edgar Wright being my all-time favourite director, we all knew it was only a matter of time before just one of his titles popped up on this list of mine. We're gonna start with 'Scott Pilgrim', however, because despite its all-encompassing Americanness (with its British director) it's incredibly close to home. Taking place in the mysterious land of Toronto, Canada, I can say with some pride that I'm just a few cities away in Hamilton, and can confirm that this wasn't filmed in a city pretending to be Toronto. I have now reviewed this movie twice, so some of my readers will be all too familiar with my reasoning for putting this one on my list. However, in case some are still a little bit in the dark, I should probably break it all down one last time. As usual, let's go back in time just a wee bit to the year 2010 when the film was about to be released. I can still admit to this day that when the first teaser trailer dropped, teasing the first fight of the film, I quite honestly thought it looked dumb. The only glimmer of hope in this trailer for me was Edgar Wright's name because even by then I considered him one of my favourite directors, based on 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot Fuzz' alone. One day I was wandering around the graphic novel section of my local Chapters (now Indigo) store. With not a whole hell of a lot jumping out at me, I texted a friend who knows his way around all of his comic book titles, asking for recommendations. Without hesitation, he texted back with "Scott Pilgrim!" I picked up the first book and was pretty entertained by it, despite an incredibly strange ending. Luckily for yours truly, I am able to say "there's more to this I haven't read yet", so bought the next book, then the next, and indeed collected all 6 of them. I read them all and actually really liked them. They are all very easy to get through, and it helped me develop an understanding of what this movie was gonna be all about. Eventually, the movie was finally released alongside 'The Expendables' (where all the dudes were heading instead) and 'Eat, Pray, Love' (where all the ladies were heading instead). The niche audience for 'Scott Pilgrim' had seemingly already downloaded it, but a few of us were still turning up to the theater to check it out. I was so impressed by the overall execution of its adaptation that I saw it twice more and may have gone a fourth time if it didn't fade away so quickly. Needless to say, when it was released on blu-ray, it was a quick grab for me. This one has officially reached the list of movies I've seen the most times over in my life, up there with even 'Ghostbusters'! It's perfectly understandable that this isn't entirely everyone's cup of tea. I would absolutely claim this to be a sort of acquired taste, and it's not something I can just recommend to anyone because not everyone is quite gonna get what makes it so good. In fact, I can say quite honestly that I know of quite a few people who hate this movie. I've even heard it referred to as the "start" of the present hipster movement (if that's even a thing anymore) and as a result, it was of course, "terrible". However, I personally never completely grasped not only what made a hipster a hipster, but why being a hipster was so incredibly bad. I feel like eventually, that term managed to get away from itself completely, and I'm willing to bet we all have some aspect of that persona in our own persona. But what this movie kills in executing is its incredible cast matching the comic book characters so well that I never once questioned who someone was supposed to be. The soundtrack is a great blend of unique sounds, largely featuring Canada's own Beck (who actually shares a Birthday with me). The visual effects were something I thought deserved to get all of the awards because it actually succeeded in making this a perfect combination of comic book, anime and video game. But what really stood out was that instead of the story taking place over the year or so it does in the comics, it's pretty much during the later parts of winter (because it's always snowy in Toronto - at one point it's mentioned that it's April). The film does a great job of telling everything it needs to tell in the short timeframe it has. The way this was presented was just about as good as it could get in my opinion. Once again, I understand a lot of people either not getting or not liking this, as it seems to be aimed at a particular audience. But speaking for myself, I find it truly original, Wright is absolutely spot on with everything here (with the original author, Bryan Lee O'Malley's guidance, which earns mad respect from me), and it's something I can throw on any damn time I feel like going on some sort of whacky escape from my own reality. Yeah, it's a bloody weird movie, but that's the kind of thing that goes right up my alley! It's sort of hard to imagine at this point that there was a time when the superhero genre was still struggling. You had your good ones, but they were few, and even looking back on some of them now, they were more "good for the time" (like 'X-Men') But things were kind of hit-or-miss, and for whatever reason, despite the box office success of many, they weren't taken very seriously. Something about a lot of them was, in a word, "off". Thankfully, in 2008, 'Iron Man' would come along and pave the way for today's oversaturation of superhero material. Now, let me be clear on this - I'm all for this oversaturation because for someone like me, it's like taking vanilla ice cream and putting chocolate sauce, sprinkles, chocolate chips and peanut butter cups all over the top of it. I fit into the geeky category that these films cater to, and I'm afraid it's gonna be a while until I'm ultimately sick of it all. I can discuss Marvel fan theory until I'm blue in the face. But back on topic, 'Iron Man's post-credit scene featuring Sam Jackson as Nick Fury provided the spark to something much bigger that has now lasted about 14 years! It's ridiculous to think about nowadays, but during the time between 2008's 'Iron Man' and somewhere between 2011's 'Thor' and 'Cap', the very idea of them being able to pull off an Avengers team-up movie was kind of beyond comprehension. In fact, many critics would insist that it could not happen. I don't pretend to understand why, but I'm sure it had a lot to do with the budget it would take, and attempting to balance an ensemble cast. History has shown a solid flop or two when it came to ensemble superhero movies, like 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen' or, perhaps better recognized, 'X3: X-Men United'. But one thing I've said during this time that still holds true today - "never say never". Eventually, after a few years of build-up, 'The Avengers' was released with damn near perfect timing for yours truly. I won't get too deep into this, but my Dad had just been diagnosed with Cancer at the time and, in a way, this provided an interesting sort of metaphorical escape where I could watch a team of heroes take on what was plaguing New York City - in the form of an alien race, lead by Loki, the God of Mischief. It was something I very much needed at the time. As cliché as it probably sounds, 'The Avengers' provided something of a ray of hope for me. And even though we all knew how things would go, and it was a hard struggle for us all, this helped me stay strong during my Dad's illness. Now, just to get away from the sad and deep part of why this made the list, let's get into something a little more positive. Besides it being an unprecedented team-up movie, a few years in the making, one of the biggest deals about it was that it did it right! One thing the 'Avengers' did that a lot of previous comic-based movies didn't do was (at least in my mind) basically open a comic book, point out a bunch of fantastic, impossible illustrations and say "we need to make it look like that". Even if you hate this stuff, you can't really deny that the first 'Avengers' movie has been a complete game-changer in the superhero genre... of course, if you DO hate all of it, that's probably also why. This one also counts as one of the most fun theatrical experiences I've ever had. It was a lot of fun to watch with an audience of fellow geeks on opening night, all cheering, laughing, and having the best time. This event was sort of like a next-generation 'Star Wars' opening night as far as its popularity went, and it might be one of the last movies I remember actually standing in a lineup for (although I'm probably wrong about that). But I'll never forget being so captivated by the scene involving a single shot, panning through Manhattan, and seeing all of the heroes do their thing in the fight. That was the scene where everything clicked for me and I fully realized that superhero movies would never be the same again. To narrow everything in the MCU down to one stand-out movie is almost as impossible a task as making this "30 Favourite Films" list to begin with. I have mentioned 'Civil War' and 'Infinity War' as the all-out coin-flip between my personal favourites in the MCU. But the original 'Avengers' just means so much more than anything that follows when you really think about it. This team-up of individual heroes opened the door wide for geekdom to come spilling through, and, at least for the time being, we geeks pretty much rule, and I couldn't be happier about it. It has been a long time coming, but I do think our time is coming to an end sooner than later. In the meantime, I think it's safe to say that I now see 'The Avengers' as the overall classic title of the MCU, and I will hold it close to my heart forever - even after the superhero era fades away one day. |