"It's Not War, It's Just An Excercise In Teamwork And Tactics"

I'm breaking the laws of this site and possibly putting my ass in the sling with the cruel and unforgiving webmaster that is Kirk Clawes. I'm reviewing a scene from a TV show. But dammit, this isn't just any TV show. And dammit, it's worth it!

The show is 'Spaced', and if you haven't yet picked up the amazing new BBC 3 disk DVD set, you should have your head examined. This show is a drug. You watch it and then immediately want to show it to everyone you know. (sort of like the British version of 'The Office') It was the show that put Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost on the map as the comic geniuses they are. And its cult success would lead to the birth of 'Shaun of the Dead' years later.

This review is starting to read like a sales pitch, so why I don't just get into the scene.

Season 1. Episode 4. Aptly titled 'Battles'. Tim (Pegg) and Mike (Frost) attend their regular paintball excursion into the woods. But before they start slinging paint, they suit up. Or at least, Mike suits up. You see, unlike 'Hot Fuzz' (see my review) where Pegg's character is the battle-hungry, over-the-top, caricature of an action here... in 'Spaced', it's all Frost.

The character of Mike is a war monger. The only trouble is, he doesn't have his war. So he's joined the territorial army. This leads to a bunch of angst he has pent up which reveals itself in robot wars, sling-shotting pets, and of course... paintball!

Similar to the suit-up scene in 'Hot Fuzz', the scene is shot in a very animated, zooming, quick-cut sort of way. It's cross-cut with a more serene Tim (Pegg) telling his friend not to take this too seriously.

When he finally beholds Mike, with war paint and too much equipment on... and uttering the word "Groovy"... he knows he's in trouble. It's going to be an all-out war!