Hot Fuzz Essay

Explain how Hot Fuzz could be described as Postmodern Media.

Hot Fuzz, which was released in 2007, was directed by Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg. Hot Fuzz is one of the three films to feature in the Ice Cream Trilogy. The Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy, also known as the Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy is a series of films directed by Edgar Wright and written by Simon Pegg. The first film to feature in this series was Shaun of the Dead. The second film to feature in the series was Hot Fuzz, and the third film, The World’s End. Each film is connected with a Cornetto Ice Cream Flavour. In ‘Shaun of the Dead’, a red strawberry flavoured Cornetto, which signifies blood and gory elements features in the film. In ‘Hot Fuzz’, the blue original Cornetto appears. This is to signify the police element of the film. The World’s End will feature the green mint choc-chip flavour. This will signify a Sci-fi movie. The use of the three flavours and colours of the Cornetto is a reference to Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Three Colours Film Trilogy, which is a French Film.


For my essay I will be looking into Intertextuality used throughout the film, Conventional vs. Postmodern Film and also challenge to text and audience relationship.

The first thing I will be looking at is the Intertextuality in Hot Fuzz. There are many different examples of intertextuality throughout the film. Intertextuality means that there is a text inside a text. In this movie, Nick Frost, who plays Danny Butterman, references many different films inside the film Hot Fuzz. Danny makes references to films such as Die Hard, which is a film about a police officer, Bad Boys 2, which is also about cops and police officers, Silent Rage, which is again about a police officer. Lethal Weapon is also referenced and the theme in this movie is police. Supercop is also referenced in Hot Fuzz; again the main theme running throughout this film is police.
I think these references have been used for a comedy and parody affect. As all these films are about police and police officers, this could be done for parody effect. We see Danny watching and talking about these films throughout Hot Fuzz, this could be because Danny maybe aspires to be the people in the film, or thinks of Simon Pegg, who plays Nicholas Angel, when watching these films. Danny Butterman is a huge fan of Action films and cops, which is what Hot Fuzz pays homage to.

Hot Fuzz could be described not only as Postmodern, but could also be described as Conventional. Hot Fuzz could be described as Conventional because of the following points. We gain security from knowing the direction of the narrative. In Hot Fuzz, we know what direction the story is going in, and we gain security from knowing the direction unlike in other films such as Pulp Fiction. There is also a largely familiar narrative and the audience gets ‘swept away’ in the narrative tide. The film Hot Fuzz has a beginning, middle and an end to the film. This makes it easier for the audience to understand what is happening, rather than moving the end to the start and moving the beginning to end, the directors of Hot Fuzz have decided to keep it simple and easier for the audience to understand. Hot Fuzz also provides a clear storyline which moves towards a resolution. This clear storyline is provided throughout and moves towards a resolution throughout the film. In the film Hot Fuzz, many different people die because different people murder them, although we don’t know who murdered these people, this is resolved at the end, and we find out there is a group of people that murder people that they don’t like, or may be jealous of. 

However, Hot Fuzz can also be referred to as being Post Modern. Hot Fuzz could be described as a Post Modern text because characters address us directly and graphics appear on screen mid scene. At the beginning of the film, Nicholas Angel addresses us directly, and states his name and also holds his Police ID card to the screen. He addresses us directly because it is an important part of the film. By addressing us directly, it suggests that he might be a lead role and of some importance. Hot Fuzz could also be a postmodern text because; we have emotional sympathy for the characters. Danny Butterman finds that his father is behind the group of people who are murdering different people the live in the town he is policing. We feel sympathy for his when he finds out this and is forced to kill his father, as every other person in this group of people is to be killed, so that no other murdering takes place in the town.  

Audience Interpretation and Hyper Reality are key factors to the movie ‘Hot Fuzz’. When watching Hot Fuzz, you have to bring something to it. You have to have watched the spoofs and understand them to understand Hot Fuzz. On the other hand, when reading Wuthering Heights, you don’t have to bring anything to it, unlike when watching Hot Fuzz.  

In conclusion, Hot Fuzz could be described as Postmodern because the film makes lots of intertextual references. For example Die Hard, Silent Rage and Bad Boys 2 and Hot Fuzz pays Homage to these films. We also have emotional sympathy for certain characters, such as Danny Butterman when he is forced to kill his father. Hot Fuzz could also be described as Postmodern because the characters address us directly.