At The Fleapit: Hot Fuzz (2007)

Like buses - as the cliche goes - good films don't come along very often, then suddenly there are four you want to see at the cinema at the same time. In this case: Hot Fuzz, The Number 23, The Illusionist and Ghost Rider. The latter two open tomorrow and I hope to get to see at least one of them on the big screen.

Hot Fuzz is Midsomer Murders or The Bill as though shot by Michael Bay and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, taking all the standards of the classic Hollywood blockbuster/buddy cop/action film and relocating it to the "peaceful countryside" of rural England.

Simon Pegg stars as Sgt. Nick Angel, a no nonsense street cop, transferred out of London's Met for being "too good". The film is a slow burner to start with, and both the humour and action take an uncomfortable while to get going - but once it kicks into top gear (and the violence and swearing is equally ratcheted up), the fun really starts.

A supporting cast of familiar faces - from Timothy Dalton as a sinister supermarket manager to Edward Woodward as the head of the village neighbourhood watch scheme - show the esteem in which director Edgar Wright and Pegg's comedy writing is held. They are all clearly having such a great time making the film that the fact that it's also very entertaining is an incidental side benefit.

As trouble in sleepy Sandford escalates, the body count builds up in increasingly gruesome ways (these are the boys who brought us Shaun Of The Dead after all, so what did you expect?) and the Wicker Man-sized "big reveal" at the end of the second act sparks off escalating silliness, car chases and spectacular gunfights in and around the village streets.

With a two hour running time, Hot Fuzz may be a bit overdone and has more possible "final scenes" than Lord Of The Rings: Return of The King, but after its ambling start never takes its foot off the accelerator as it barrels through set pieces, throwaway lines, slapstick and countless references to American action films.