Recently i have re-watched Edgar Wright's Action comedy Hot Fuzz and i have decided to talk about it and how it ties in with our Utopia and dystopia studies. The movie is about a top London police officer Nicholas Angel who is transferred from the city to the quaint fictional village of Sanford, Gloucestershire (Wells, Somerset in reality) after being too good at his job. Now in the country he has to apply his experience towards enforcing the law.
After settling in to his new surroundings Nicholas is shown around the police station in which he discovers that the squad is incompetent and ill-equipped. He is also introduced to the neighbourhood watch and to a local supermarket owned by a shifty manager Simon Skinner. Things begin to get bloody when a couple get decapitated by a road sign after speeding into it. Suspiciously the brakes weren't applied. After the death of two men and a woman caused by a gas explosion, falling church masonry and a pair of hedge clippers in the neck Nicholas begins to delve into the cause of the deaths.
When putting the murder cases towards his disbelieving colleagues, Nicholas is told that the alleged murders were only accidents much to his disbelief. Angel starts digging through the local papers to find evidence, presenting his evidence and an arrest warrant to Simon Skinner, Nicholas is proved wrong. After hearing a suggestion from a corner shop keeper alluding towards a ring of killers Nicholas insists to his superior that Angel was right, he is let down easily and is told to sleep on it until tomorrow.
When Nicholas arrives at his hotel room he is assaulted by the hulking yet simple trolley boy. Nicholas defeats him by smashing a plant pot on his head, dropping a walkey-talkey on the floor. He heads towards the castle mentioned by the man on the radio. Nicholas finds out that the Watch were behind the deaths. The chief tells Nicholas that the neighbourhood watch murdered the victims because they posed a threat to the village of the year competition, killing anyone who would jeopardise their track record. When being chased Nicholas discovers "the problems" that were dealt with from under age drinkers, a shoplifter, living statue and gypsy caravans.
When Danny pretends to stab Nicholas in the heart he drops Angel on the outskirts of village, telling him to return to London and never come back. Nicholas returns to the village to enact justice upon the neighbourhood watch. After rallying the police force to his cause they assault the supermarket to arrest Skinner but he escapes. After pursuing Skinner and Frank Butterman via police cars, Nicholas engages and overcomes Skinner and arrests Frank, restoring order to Sanford.
There is the exchange between Nicholas and Frank that involves the lines "This is the best village, Nicholas" and "They're [the towns people] living in a dream world". This best sums up a dystopia being flawed".
After settling in to his new surroundings Nicholas is shown around the police station in which he discovers that the squad is incompetent and ill-equipped. He is also introduced to the neighbourhood watch and to a local supermarket owned by a shifty manager Simon Skinner. Things begin to get bloody when a couple get decapitated by a road sign after speeding into it. Suspiciously the brakes weren't applied. After the death of two men and a woman caused by a gas explosion, falling church masonry and a pair of hedge clippers in the neck Nicholas begins to delve into the cause of the deaths.
When putting the murder cases towards his disbelieving colleagues, Nicholas is told that the alleged murders were only accidents much to his disbelief. Angel starts digging through the local papers to find evidence, presenting his evidence and an arrest warrant to Simon Skinner, Nicholas is proved wrong. After hearing a suggestion from a corner shop keeper alluding towards a ring of killers Nicholas insists to his superior that Angel was right, he is let down easily and is told to sleep on it until tomorrow.
When Nicholas arrives at his hotel room he is assaulted by the hulking yet simple trolley boy. Nicholas defeats him by smashing a plant pot on his head, dropping a walkey-talkey on the floor. He heads towards the castle mentioned by the man on the radio. Nicholas finds out that the Watch were behind the deaths. The chief tells Nicholas that the neighbourhood watch murdered the victims because they posed a threat to the village of the year competition, killing anyone who would jeopardise their track record. When being chased Nicholas discovers "the problems" that were dealt with from under age drinkers, a shoplifter, living statue and gypsy caravans.
When Danny pretends to stab Nicholas in the heart he drops Angel on the outskirts of village, telling him to return to London and never come back. Nicholas returns to the village to enact justice upon the neighbourhood watch. After rallying the police force to his cause they assault the supermarket to arrest Skinner but he escapes. After pursuing Skinner and Frank Butterman via police cars, Nicholas engages and overcomes Skinner and arrests Frank, restoring order to Sanford.
There is the exchange between Nicholas and Frank that involves the lines "This is the best village, Nicholas" and "They're [the towns people] living in a dream world". This best sums up a dystopia being flawed".
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