Flickchart’s Greatest Battles

 In which we pit two movies together using flickchart.com, debating their merits or lack thereof.

HOT FUZZ

VS

28 DAYS LATER

How do you compare and contrast a brilliant comedy with probably the best apocalyptic zombie movie ever?  That’s like asking, “Which is better?  Homemade macaroni and cheese, or red velvet cake with butter frosting?” (And for the purposes of this exercise, you like savory and sweet equally.  Which is probably why you’re not feeling so great these days.)

Hot Fuzz is just fantastic.  It’s shot well, it’s got a classic straight man/comic foil that doesn’t feel anachronistic, and it pays mock tribute to American action films.  Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are the kind of people you want to run into at your favorite bar after a shitty day.  (So you can all go to the Winchester, have a pint, and wait for all of this to blow over.)

28 Days Later, despite its bleakness, is a gorgeous film.  It has moments of levity and natural beauty, of course, but it’s still compelling during all of its dark moments–even the harrowing ones.  And it makes a pretty compelling case that fully alive humans are not necessarily better than zombies.

If you were to hold a gun to my head (I’d rather you didn’t, or if you must, at least hold it up in the air and go “ahhhhh,”) I’d say that the plot twist in Hot Fuzz strays a little too far from the action thriller/buddy cop vibe that the film initially sets up.  It’s not that it isn’t funny, but it ventures a little into Stepford territory, which is humorous for other reasons.  Conspiracies should be filed in horror-comedy, not action-comedy.  28 Days Later has just a pinch more stylistic focus.

I guess.  I’ll probably change my mind tomorrow.  Okay, before it becomes some big long thing…

Winner:

28 Days Later