Hot Fuzz (4½ stars)

London’s finest cop is sent to work the streets of a small town when his superiors decide his intimidating arrest record makes the rest of the precinct look bad. Paired up with the small town’s buffoon cop, he stumbles upon a sinister plot of murder and corruption, turning into the biggest and most important case of his career.

What I love so much about the films made by Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and their team is that though they make relentless fun of a genre with each film, the films are not, strictly speaking, parody. Hot Fuzz is an original story in its own right that makes fun of every aspect of the buddy cop action genre, while takings its own story seriously.

Lots of laughs, as well as over-the-top action and explosions – 4½ stars