With studio movies like Baby Driver, Last Night in Soho, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Edgar Wright has become one of the most renowned directors in Hollywood. But back in the UK, what first put Wright on the map was the “Three Flavors Cornetto Trilogy,” consisting of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End.
From foreshadowing to fast-paced montages to kinetic camerawork to needle-drops on the soundtrack, this trio of genre-riffing comedy classics established all the hallmarks of Wright’s distinctive directorial style.
Genre Mashup
Wright is a genre director who rarely confines himself to one genre. Every Cornetto movie is an affectionate parody of a specific genre, with other genre elements mixed in: Shaun of the Dead has been described as a “zom-rom-com” (a zombie-infested romantic comedy), Hot Fuzz is a “buddy cop” movie with a whodunit storyline, and The World’s End is a class reunion comedy about an alien invasion.
Wright has maintained this genre mashup tradition outside the Cornetto trilogy. Baby Driver is a car chase movie crossed with a jukebox musical. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a romantic action comedy shot in the style of anime and video games.
Rapid-Paced Montages
Montages have become one of the most recognizable traits of Wright’s filmmaking. This stylistic flourish was established in the Cornetto trilogy with the fast-paced montages cut together by Chris Dickens and Paul Machliss.
In Shaun of the Dead, Shaun runs through a few possible plans to survive the zombie apocalypse. In The World’s End, the five musketeers go from bar to bar, trying to keep up appearances, so the robot invaders won’t realize they’re onto the body-snatching plot.
Soundtrack Needle-Drops
Like Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese, Wright is known for including needle-drops on his soundtracks. Scott Pilgrim is about a musician and Baby Driver is about a getaway driver who is inseparable from his iPod. This stylistic trademark was first established in the Cornetto trilogy.
The soundtrack of Shaun of the Dead has a snippet of a Smiths song, two Queen songs, and a bunch of classic zombie movie scores. The soundtrack of Hot Fuzz has Adam Ant, the Kinks, Supergrass, and the Troggs. For The World’s End’s soundtrack, Wright went above and beyond with a nostalgic ‘90s playlist consisting of hits by Blur, Pulp, Primal Scream, Happy Mondays, and the Soup Dragons.
Terrifying Twins
Recurring tropes are telling in the work of horror filmmakers. If a director brings back a specific fear in each movie, it can reveal what really scares them. Based on the Cornetto trilogy, it seems as though Wright’s biggest fear is twins.
There are twin zombies in Shaun of the Dead, twin cleaver-wielding butchers in Hot Fuzz, and twin robot invaders in The World’s End.
Repeated Lines Of Dialogue
Wright’s scripts tend to bring back familiar lines of dialogue. After using a line in one context at the beginning of the movie, he’ll reprise it in a new context before the end credits.
In Shaun of the Dead, “You’ve got red on you” originally refers to red ink and later refers to spattered blood. In Hot Fuzz, the twin receptionists at the police station keep saying, “Nobody tells me nuthin’.” In The World’s End, O-Man repeatedly says, “WTF,” until Gary finally asks, “What the f**k does ‘WTF’ mean!?”
Kinetic Camera Movements
Wright’s camera rarely stays still. He’s always pulling in on the characters’ faces or swooping across the room or whip-panning from one scene into the next.
In Shaun of the Dead, there’s a repeated long take following Shaun to and from the corner shop. In Hot Fuzz’s action scenes, the camera is restless.
Action Synchronized To Music
Not only does Wright include sumptuous needle-drops on his soundtracks; he synchronizes the on-screen action to the rhythmic flow of the music. He eventually made a whole movie out of this concept with Baby Driver, but it could previously be seen in the Cornetto movies.
In Shaun of the Dead, when Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” plays on the jukebox and Shaun, Ed, and Liz use pool cues to beat up the zombified pub landlord, the action syncs up with the song.
Mundane Everyday Activities With Cinematic Flair
Wright is renowned for taking mundane everyday activities and using cinematic techniques to make them exciting. The director brings just as much flair to a character buttering a piece of toast as he brings to a car crashing into a model village.
When Shaun brushes his teeth in Shaun of the Dead or when Nicholas waters his Japanese peace lily in Hot Fuzz, Wright uses quick cuts and crash zooms to make these ordinary activities feel truly cinematic.
Stylized Scene Transitions
A big part of the cohesive flow of Wright’s editing is his use of creative scene transitions. Each scene flows seamlessly into the next, usually with a whip pan at the end of the first shot and a matching whip pan at the beginning of the following shot.
This trope can be seen in all of Wright’s movies, but it was first established in the Cornetto trilogy. Shaun’s survival plan montage is an early example.
Foreshadowing
The smartest narrative trick used by Wright and his co-writer (and leading man) Simon Pegg is subtle foreshadowing. Wright and Pegg’s screenplays tend to secretly give away the ending early on.
Ed’s monologue in Shaun of the Dead outlines the rest of the movie. In Hot Fuzz, the line “It’s just the one swan, actually” gives the audience a clue that there are multiple killers. The pub names in The World’s End all describe what happens in the plot.
