Awesome / Hot Fuzz

Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.

"Ever fired two guns whilst jumping through the air?"

• A tiny but nonetheless awesome moment from the very beginning of the movie. When Angel protests his transfer by saying to the Chief Inspector, "There's one thing you haven't taken into account..." the Chief Inspector's satisfied smile falters for just a second. Angel is so hyper-competent at his job, he manages to make a veteran officer several ranks above him genuinely nervous.
• Despite being reduced to policing minor crimes, Nicholas still manages to succeed as a small town officer:
  • When he sees school kids at the pub drinking, he immediately has them all arrested and escorted to jail.
  • Simply with a notebook and pen, Nicholas manages to intimidate a pompous attorney.
• Nicholas believes that Skinner orchestrated the murders in order to gain access to a lucrative land deal. While this conclusion is (partially) wrong, the sequence of how Nicholas stitched together this idea proves Nicholas would put Sherlock Holmes to shame in investigative and analytical prowess.
• Danny Butterman and a sachet of ketchup. "Ta-da!"
  • Also credit to Angel for his reaction. While he might have thought he was stabbed at first, he quickly realized Danny was pretending and faked being dead or badly wounded. The minute they're out of town? He gets up and berates Danny for not noticing the murder.
  • And to Danny for managing to fool the entire cult and his own dad.
• Angel strapping every gun in the evidence locker on. And his Improbable Aiming Skills.
• The entire extended shootout between Angel and the NWA at the end proves that with the right cinematography and editing, you can make a bunch of 60-year old Shakespearean veterans, scrawny little Simon Pegg, and frumpy looking Nick Frost look like bigger badass action stars than the most roided up musclehead.
  • It starts with Angel riding the white horse into the middle of town while NWA gapes in surprise and amazement. He utters one word: "Morning."
  • Angel dropkicking an old lady in the face.
  • Nick recruiting the Hoodies as a Heroic Bystander group; they spraypaint the security cameras for the element of surprise and help him take down the shopkeeper by weaponizing her automatic doorbell. As an added bonus, none of them get hurt in the confrontation!
  • Considering the abandoned subplot, this is also some well-earned catharsis for the kids in question.
  • Dr Hatcher has Nick and Danny dead-to-rights with a shotgun. When told to "drop 'em", Danny complies... by intentionally throwing his reliably unreliable shotgun in such a way that it lands near Dr Hatcher's foot and goes off, downing him without Danny even pulling the trigger.
    • "You're a doctor. Deal with it." "Yeah, motherfucker."
  • The elderly hotel lady pulls out a massive submachine gun and opens fire on Angel and Danny, before he takes her out with a well-aimed shotgun blast...on a flowerpot.
    • "Fascist!" * blam* "Hag."
  • Then Major Bernard attacks Nick with a saber, and in a moment for awesome for him, he actually keeps Nick on his toes while fencing with him! Nick could cold-cock him at any time but honourably fights on his terms —using his standard-issue police baton instead of a sword — before swiping at his feet and tripping him.
• How Angel convinces the other cops with some simple question: "Have you ever wondered why the crime rate in Sandford is so low and yet the accident rate is so high?" Some logic, and Danny Calling the Old Man Out, and the new guard immediately turns on Butterman.
  • The fact that Sgt. Walker says "I reckon he's got something there now" implies he's had his own suspicions for some time now, and it was Angel's revelations that helped him put the pieces together. More than likely, given Walker's age he's been around for a while and had noticed something was up, but couldn't figure out the full extent and opted to keep his mouth shut (a wise move in hindsight).
• The reprise of the swan.
• The officers shaping up for the final fight. The "incompetent" Sergeant Tony Fisher suddenly comes up with a comprehensive and decent plan very quickly. And even though the Andys' and Doris don't do any substantial detective work, they do end up kicking some substantial ass.
  • The sight of the old schoolteacher dual wielding pistols at Angel. While on a bicycle. and Danny clotheslining said teacher, with his car door. Both Badass and funny at the same time.
  • This restores Angel's full confidence in Danny, as he tosses him a shotgun and they both cock them as hard as they can. Finally, they're exactly on the same page.
  Angel: That's what I'm talking about.
  • Reverend Shooter tries to call for the rampage to end, telling Nick surely, he is a man of peace. Nick retorts he knows right and wrong and the difference. Then Shooter goes "Oh fuck off, grasshopper!" and lands a hit on Nick with his hidden pistols. Moment of awesome for both of them, and for Danny clipping Shooter in the shoulder.
  • When Danny and Nick take off to pursue Skinner and Butterman—we see a quick montage of them flipping the lights on, buckling up, and hitting the gas, while Nick shouts "PUNCH! THAT! SHIT!" Combined with the following close-up of the wheel spinning, you can almost hear the theme from Power Rangers Turbo blaring underneath....
• During the final standoff between Angel and Simon Skinner, as the Dalton-ator beats Angel to the ground with a series of sledgehammer like punches, and just as he swings the finisher "GET. OUT. OF MY. VILLAGE!" Angel catches it, stands up, crushing the hand and retorts "It's not your village anymore!" before punching Skinner's lights out, sending him crashing down into the miniature replica of his OWN SHOP.
  • This moment was mentioned specifically by Simon Pegg in interviews as the moment he realised 'I was fighting James Bond, and I was winning!'
• The gunfight is followed by a lot of paperwork, something real coppers appreciated. However, it's shot in the same way as the action: Whip pans! Crash zooms! Dual Wielding pens! Dramatic Pen Clicks! Awesome Paperwork!
• Nick refuses to come back to London when the Jerkass inspectors from the Met come to Sandford to ask him to come back, as crime has grown tenfold ever since he was Kicked Upstairs. While you know it was mostly because Nick had grown to like Sandford and his new friends, you can tell it's also him getting a little payback.
• In the climax battle, the police seem to arrest every single NWA member without killing any of them, or at least killing a minimal amount. A small group of cops fight the insane NWA who are perfectly willing to kill any threat without mercy. The cops win, without killing anyone, which ends up supporting Nick's own strong trust in the law in a way. It's a complete victory for justice. Judge Dredd would be proud.
• Simon Skinner attempts to take a small boy hostage to make Angel back off. The boy promptly bites him on the hand, hard, until he lets go. Angel's impressed smile seals it.
  Angel: You did good, kid.
  Boy: Ta.

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