"HOT FUZZ" (2007) Review
I have never never seen "SHAUN OF THE DEAD". Nor have I ever seen "SPACED", the TV series that had first made British comics Simon Pegg and Nick Frost well known. And if I must be honest, I never really had any intention of seeing "HOT FUZZ" when it first hit the theaters back in 2007. Until I saw the trailers for the movie on television. Thank God I had changed my mind.
"HOT FUZZ" tells the story of New Scotland Yard police constable, Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg), whose uber-dedication to law and order, spotless arrest record (400% superior to his colleagues), and no-nonsense personality drives his superiors (which include Bill Nighy and Steve Coogan) to promote him to sergeant . . . and reassign him to the supposedly crime-free village of Sanford. Feeling like a fish out of water, Sergeant Angel struggles to adjust to rural crime fighting (like arresting under-aged drinkers and a drunken future partner; and searching for a missing pet swan) and the slightly offbeat citizens of Sanford - especially his new partner, the affable Constable Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). What starts out as a mind-numbing experience for Angel, becomes intriguing when Sanford is rocked (well, as far as the intrepid police sergeant is concerned) by a series of grisly accidents. Angel eventually uncover the truth behind the so-called accidents. With the help of the eager Butterman (who happens to be an action movie fan) and the seemingly inept Sanford Police, Angel brings the . . . uh, guilty party to justice in a blaze of action-style gunplay.
Not only is "HOT FUZZ" one of the funniest movies I have seen in years, the screenwriters (director Edgar Wright and star Pegg) had created an array of eccentric and memorable characters that include Oscar winner Jim Broadbent (who plays Danny's equally affable chief of police dad, Frank Butterman), Billie Whitelaw ("THE OMEN" fame) and BAFTA nominee Anne Reid ("THE MOTHER"). Also portraying some of the villagers are a collection of British talent from famous action-adventure sagas - Timothy Dalton (the 4th James Bond), Edward Woodward ("THE EQUALIZER"), Paul Freeman ("RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK"), David Threlfall ("PATRIOT GAMES") and Stuart Wilson ("LETHAL WEAPON 3"). Even Pegg has appeared as an IMF computer tech and agent in the last two "MISSION IMPOSSIBLE" movies. And they are all hilarious . . . especially Dalton's smarmy supermarket owner, who reminds me of a stock villain straight out of "THE PERILS OF PAULINE".
I must admit that I truly enjoyed watching Nick Frost's Danny get under Angel's skin. Not only was he extremely funny - and witty, but he was also so charming that it was easy how he managed to break down Angel's chilly exterior and befriend the London cop. And his penchant for American action films has endeared me to his character more than ever. I suffer from the same penchant.
But the real revelation - at least for me - turned out to be Sergeant Nicholas Angel, portrayed with such humorless zeal by star, Simon Pegg. Straight arrow types usually turn out to be the hero or anti-hero's long-suffering superior or rival in many action films. And it is usually the screw-up or anti-social characters who turn out to be the main character that end up being transferred away from the action. But in "HOT FUZZ", Angel's zealous competence causes him to lose his girlfriend (Cate Blanchett in a cameo), but earn the antipathy of his Scotland Yard colleagues (who are eager to get rid of him). I cannot explain it, but is something about Angel that I found very appealing and funny. I guess I simply found him fascinating. In real life, this guy would have seriously annoyed me. But thanks to great writing and Pegg's tight performance, I found myself rooting for him. The ironic thing about Nick Angel is that he will eventually discover that his nemesis is just as anal as he. Danny Butterman turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to him.
Some critics had complained that "HOT FUZZ" seemed to long for a comedy with a running time of 121 minutes. Considering that the movie was a send-up of action movies, which usually ran at two hours, I saw nothing wrong with the movie's length. To be honest, I was too busy laughing to notice. I have to say that without a doubt, "HOT FUZZ" is one of the funniest movies I have seen since . . . one of Danny Butterman's favorite movies, "BAD BOYS 2" and "STARSKY AND HUTCH" (both released in 2003). It has become increasingly difficult to find a comedy that is smart and filled with rich characterization. "HOT FUZZ" can also boast some memorable scenes that I will never forget:
-Sergeant Angel's New Scotland Yard superiors giving him the news about his reassignment
-Angel's first night in Sanford (which includes arresting his future partner)
-David Threlfall and Lucy Punch's hilarious take on "ROMEO AND JULIET"
-Police Constable Doris Thatcher's witty repartee after dealing with one of Simon Skinner's employees
-Danny Butterman's send up on a scene from "POINT BREAK"
-Angel and Skinner's crazy hand-to-hand fight in the middle of a small-scale model of Sanford.
"HOT FUZZ" became one of my favorite movies from 2007. It is a hilariously rich and sharp tale about murder, conspiracy and a great friendship. Thank you Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and Edgar Wright for a wonderful film.
"STAR TREK BEYOND" (2016) ReviewI might as well place all my cards on the table. I am not a fan of J.J. Abrams' reboot of the "STAR TREK" franchise. I heartily dislike the 2009 movie of the original title. And I also dislike - to a lesser degree, 2013's "STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS". So when I learned there was to be a third movie in this new franchise . . . needless to say I was not enthusiastic over the news.The second thing I learned about this third TREK film, "STAR TREK BEYOND", was that it was not directed by J.J. Abrams. Justin Lin, who had helmed the fourth, fifth and sixth "FAST AND FURIOUS" movies; served as director. And for once, Simon Pegg, who also co-starred as Chief Engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott, and Doug Jung served as the movie's screenwriters; instead of Abrams' usual scribes - Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman. No disrespect to Abrams, Orci and Kurtzman, but I did not miss their presence in this production. If anything, I managed to enjoy the TREK reboot for the first time since it began in 2009."STAR TREK BEYOND" begins with the arrival of the U.S.S. Enterprise at the Federation Starbase Yorktown for new supplies and shore leave for the crew. Not long after its arrival at Yorktown, an escape pod drifts out of a nearby uncharted nebula. The survivor, Kalara, claims her ship is stranded on Altamid, a planet within the nebula. The rescue turns into an ambush when the Enterprise is quickly torn apart by a massive swarm of small ships. Krall and his crew board the ship, and unsuccessfully search for a relic called an Abronath that Kirk had obtained for a failed diplomatic mission. Krall captures and removes many crew members from the ship. Kirk then orders for the crew to abandon ship as the Enterprise's saucer section hurtles towards the planet. After more crew members are captured, including Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu, Kirk is forced to find those who have not been captured and find a way to stop Krall from carrying out his plans against the Federation.If I must be honest, "STAR TREK BEYOND" is not perfect. I believe that it has a major flaw and it centered around the main antagonist, Krall. How can I put this? I found both his true identity and the reason behind his main goal - the destruction of the Federation with the use of a bio weapon - a bit on the lame side. Apparently, Krall was a former Human captain from the pre-Federation era named Captain Balthazar Edison, whose ship had crashed on Altamid. Believing the newly formed Federation had abandoned him, Edison and his surviving crew had used the technology of the Altamid's natives to prolong their lives and mutate their physiology. I am sorry, but that seemed to reaching a bit. And the reason for Krall/Edison's desire to destroy the Federation - the belief that the latter had deliberately abandoned him and his crew - definitely seemed a bit lame to me.If the background of the film's main villain and his reason to destroy the Federation seemed a bit lame, then why did I like this film? Whatever weaknesses that "STAR TREK BEYOND" had, I can honestly say that it lacked the multiple plot holes that marred 2009's "STAR TREK" and that ridiculous final half hour from 2013's "STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS". The flaws for this film seemed minor in compare to the first two films. I also liked the fact that the characters seemed more mature and established in this movie. Even Krall seemed like an improvement over the first two villains. He did not engage in a convoluted plot that involved time travel. Nor was his character whitewashed and engaged in another ridiculously convoluted plot. Although Krall's reason to destroy the Federation seemed a bit thin, at least his actual plot - involving the creation of a bio weapon - seemed to be on solid. And for that, I have to thank screenwriters Simon Pegg and Donny Jung.I have to admit that when it comes to action sequences, the new STAR TREK movies never fail to deliver. There were a handful of sequences in "STAR TREK BEYOND" that definitely impressed me. First and foremost was the attack on the U.S.S. Enterprise by Krall's fleet and the crash landing on Altamid that followed. Honestly, I feel that director Justin Lin really outdid himself in that particular sequence. I found the minor scenes featuring the Enterprise crew's efforts to survive on Altamid very engrossing and once again, well handled by Lin. Now that I think about it, just about all of the movie's actions scenes impressed me - including Kirk and the other non-captured crew members' efforts to free those who had been captured, the Enterprise crew's efforts to prevent Krall/Edison from using his new weapon to destroy the Federation's massive space station, Starbase Yorktown; and Kirk's final confrontation with the main villain. I also liked the fact that the movie's two major female characters - Lieutenant Uhura and a castaway named Jaylah - also took part in many of the film's action sequences. And both seemed more than capable of taking care of themselves."STAR TREK BEYOND' marked a major improvement in the franchise's characterizations. For the first time, the main characters seemed to be truly comfortable with each other. And all of them seemed to be more mature and believable as Starfleet officers. This especially seemed to be the case for Chris Pine's performance as James T. Kirk. For the first time, I found it easy to see his Kirk as a worthy captain for the U.S.S. Enterprise. The prat boy from the 2009 and 2013 movies was gone. Zachary Quinto also seemed very comfortable in his role as the Enterprise's First Officer, Commander Spock. I also enjoyed how both he and Karl Urban, who portrayed Medical Officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, managed to establish a strong and rather funny screen chemistry - something that I do not recall from the two previous films. Quinto's Spock seemed even more comfortable than ever with Zoë Saldana's Nyota Uhura. First of all, both had the chance to enact a private drama between Spock and Uhura that did not come off as forced. I find it hard to believe that I had once found the idea of a romance between the two as unbelievable.The movie also featured solid performances from Idris Elba as the movie's main antagonist, Krall aka Balthazar Edison, who managed to thankfully convey his character's emotional nature without engaging in any histrionics. I also enjoyed one particular scene between Elba and Uhura that struck me as both tense and effective, thanks to the actors' performances. I also enjoyed the performances of John Cho, who always managed to give a cool, yet wry portrayal of Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu; Anton Yelchin, whose Pavel Chekov seemed more controlled and mature than he did in the previous films; Simon Pegg, whose portrayal of Lieutenant-Commander Montgomery "Scotty" Scott seemed a great deal more controlled and still funny; and Sofia Boutella gave an intense and skillful performance as an alien castaway/scavenger named Jaylah with a grudge against Krull.I understand that "STAR TREK BEYOND" had not performed well at the U.S. box office. Some critics claimed that the movie was not as good as the 2009 movie. When I heard that, I nearly coughed up a lung. Frankly, I think it is a lot better than the two previous films. I thought Justin Lin did a great job as the movie's director. And he was ably supported by Simon Pegg and Donny Jung's screenplay, along with a first-rate cast led by Chris Pine. As for why many moviegoers stayed away, I do not have the foggiest idea. What matters is my own personal opinion.
R.I.P. Leonard Nimoy (1931-2015)
R.I.P. Anton Yelchin (1989-2016)
