THE award for most surprising uncredited cameo of the year goes to Cate Blanchett. She sneaks into Hot Fuzz and speaks her lines behind a mask and white suit.

Such is the appeal of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg - the team behind the 2003 zombie-spoof smash hit Shaun Of The Dead - an entire catalogue of British acting legends ham it out in this second spoof, a send-up of the police thriller, shoot 'em up genres. Pegg and Wright specialise in taking little England and hitting it with everything that Hollywood's best and worst has got - for Hot Fuzz, imagine Lethal Weapon, Dirty Harry, Lost Boys and Heat taking place in a Miss Marple-like mystery.

Simon Pegg plays Nicholas Angel, a London policeman so good, he makes the rest of the force look useless. So he is dispatched to the quiet town of Sandford, impressing local PC Danny Butterman (Nick Frost) with his Robocop efficiency.

Butterman is a nut for violent action videos and desperately wants to see some big action, but Sandford is a model of propriety, where the neighbourhood watch keeps an eye on hoody teenagers using an advanced CCTV system.

But then some mysterious events occur, arousing the suspicions of Angel. Sure enough, he uncovers a plot that makes the Wicker Man look a minor basket case. But nobody on the local police force, including Danny's dad Inspector Frank Butterman (Jim Broadbent), wants to believe him.

Unlike Shaun Of The Dead, which got the show up and running early on, Hot Fuzz takes a good while to build up heat. But when it does, it's so outrageously funny, you will forgive heavy-handed director Edgar Wright for making you think you were sitting in a Darren Arronofsky movie. Simon Pegg is the only straight face in the film - it's a wonder he keeps the smile off his own face as he lays waste to the town with more heavy weapons than an entire triology of Matrix films.