Shaun of the Dead : A mediocre movie of a silly genre. While I love Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, this movie doesn't quite know what it wants to be: horror? satire? parody? drama? romance? Clerks? Nah. Just don't get it. Hot Fuzz is the far superior movie in every way. (Sorry Joe! )
Cripes, Pro...
The film knows EXACTLY what it wants to be. It expertly balances the horror and the comedy. It is both parody and homage to George Romero's Living Dead films. It gives nods to various other films in the zombie/living dead/infected people subgenre of horror. And it gives the viewer a solid (romantic) comedy with some valid things to say about friendship, loyalty, and the meaning of family. It's everything you list. And I'm not even going to try and list the in-jokes and references to other films and Spaced.
It's one thing to not like the horror genre that this film draws from, but to understand Hot Fuzz while missing the point of Shaun...damn, Pro, lay off the weed. Both films do exactly the same thing within the confines of the subgenre in which they work (the American buddy cop/action flick for Hor Fuzz). How do you miss that?
Oh damn Silky, it wasn't personal!
The thing is, I don't appreciate that entire genre. Thus, I can't appreciate it's homage or respects to said genre. Thus, I have to try and appreciate it all on its own as a film. And, I can't, because...to me...the identity of the entire thing is skewed.
And it's TOTALLY my opinion. Not trying to or anything. I know I worded it all pretty...directly. But, that's just me being an egocentric blowhard than anything else.
Now, wipe that hurt puppy dog look off of your face and tell me why Shaun is superior to Hot Fuzz...