The only thing taken seriously in the sophomoric feature outing from the Shaun of the Dead guys is the view Simon Pegg's by-the-book bobby has of himself and his role in the police service.

He plays Nicholas Angel, a London copper so good at his job that it's embarrassing the rest of the Met and so he is coerced into a promotional transfer to the sleepy northern "Village of the Year" Sandford, where a spate of fatal "accidents" may not be as innocent as they initially seem.

One of the few flaws in the film as an overall package is this continual metamorphosis into the next parody and the overabundance of final scenes, surely enough to give even the final Lord of the Rings installment a run for its money! Nevertheless, Hot Fuzz scores big time where it counts: laughs.