THE team behind the revered Shaun of the Dead were always going to find it hard to follow-up such a critically and commercially adored film, writes Stuart Johnstone.

With Hot Fuzz (15, previewed at Odeon Dundee) however, they should more than meet the weight of expectation.

Tapping into the cinematic staples of the cop buddy movie, and all-action extravaganza, Hot Fuzz is in some ways a departure from its predecessor, but with the same sharp humour and set piece scenarios that made Shaun such a success.

Simon Pegg, for once playing more of a straight man, is top London cop Nicholas Angel, who is so good at his job that he is putting the rest of the force to shame.

His superiors ship him out to a sleepy backwater to stop him from making them look bad, where he is teamed up with bumbling village bobby Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) and plunged into a world of church fetes and bowling matches. But all is not as it seems. A spate of fatal so-called accidents leads Angel to suspect that something suspicious is afoot and as the bodies pile up in a manner akin to a series worth of Midsomer Murders, but with added grisly effects, it is up to the not-so dynamic duo to save the day.

Although there is sterling supporting work by the likes of Jim Broadbent and Timothy Dalton and cameos from everyone who is anyone in the British film industry, the show really belongs to Pegg and Frost. Their initial suspicion over each other gives away to a genuine friendship as the naive Butterman tries to emulate his more heroic colleague.

Having worked with each other for so long, Frost and Pegg have the natural camaraderie that shines on screen.

There are more than a few laugh out loud moments, with both visual and spoken gags. Butterman gets the best of the one-liners, but he is matched in the humour stakes by the sight of the stoic Angel coming to terms with his new home.

The supporting cast get their share of the laughs too, with special mention going to Paddy Considine as the caustic CID officer.

The action sequences are also impressive. Director Edgar Wright the third member of the team behind Shaun sends up the bombastic action flicks of the likes of Michael Bay, but in doing so demonstrates his own ability behind the camera by delivering some decent set-pieces of his own, even if gun-toting minister’s adds an air of the surreal to the proceedings.

The only question now is how do they top this one?

VERDICT: Another surefire hit.

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