Making the most successful transition into comedy of any Bond actor to date, Timothy Dalton is in some ways the MVP of Hot Fuzz. In Edgar Wright's send-up/affectionate tribute to buddy cop action movies, Dalton gets to do the cackling villainy AND deliver the funnies. As small-town Sandford's supermarket tsar Simon Skinner, Dalton basically turns his charming Brit schtick up to the max, then offers biscuits, like the good guy he outwardly appears to be. When all goes tits-up, he and his buddies face off against the local police, which culminates in Dalton hilariously/disturbingly using a "ginger nut" as a hostage and then falling face-first onto a model miniature steeple. It should also be noted that Edgar Wright later cast Pierce Brosnan as a baddie in The World's End. It's not quite as effective or memorable an appearance as Dalton's, but Wright should at least be applauded for taking it upon himself to make a small industry out of turning former Bond actors into villains.
Lover of film, writer of words, pretentious beyond belief. Thinks Scorsese and Kubrick are the kings of cinema, but PT Anderson and David Fincher are the dashing young princes. Follow Brogan on twitter if you can take shameless self-promotion: @BroganMorris1
