Four Lions

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:43 pm

So I've had this movie for a while but didn't watch it until yesterday.

It is a movie by Chris Morris, a famous English satirist. Chris Morris initially become interested in terrorism after having read about the uncovering of a terrorist plot in the UK due to the idiocy of the participants. He then went on to sit in courtroom hearings in which terrorists were being tried and found out that the main reason for why these terror schemes failed was because someone fairly low down in the hierarchy did something really dumb and botched the whole thing.

Four Lions is a story about four Jihadist terrorists in Sheffield, UK and about their master plan to go and blow themselves up at the London marathon. The movie explores a lot of themes, the most overarching one being the pure idiocy of terrorists. Yet, alongside it takes a look at the kind of ideological confusions of a would-be suicide bomber, deriving from friends, family and preachers and concerning Islam, the Western society and value of human life. An interesting contrast is also made with actual fundamental Muslims.
The other key theme is regarding the British public, especially their unawareness and inability to catch onto terrorist plans being hatched right under their noses. It offers a satirical account of the incompetence of the police force (however fundamentally asking a question: whatever is going on here - is it actually capable of being understood?)

I saw this clip on youtube a while ago:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAGO_l_YTbk

If you like this clip, I highly recommend watching this movie. I expected it to be one of those that give the best moments away in the trailer, however that is far from the truth. The entire movie is absolutely hilarious from beginning to end and is easily the 2nd funniest movie I've ever seen (Withnail & I is 1st, Burn After Reading is 3rd).

I'd give this movie 5/5 but I know that people will start bitching so I'll leave it at 4.5/5.

PS: If you watched it and liked it, I highly recommend watching Brass Eye (a series by Chris Morris), it's absolutely hilarious and available on Youtube.

SenisterDenister · Post by **SenisterDenister** » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:39 pm

I've heard about this movie, but the clip you've linked to really makes me want to see it now.

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 3:18 am

SenisterDenister wrote:I've heard about this movie, but the clip you've linked to really makes me want to see it now.

Yeah it's totally worth it, you really cannot go wrong. There are quite a few subtle things to catch onto so it's definitely worth a rewatch as well.
By the way, this is the same scene that I posted above but it starts like 5 seconds earlier. Hilarious.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t20aNy8B-pU

Megatron · Post by **Megatron** » Sat Feb 05, 2011 4:09 am

http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/

blue jam

Tofu Man · Post by **Tofu Man** » Wed Feb 09, 2011 5:14 am

+1 for most hilarious accidental death since "Shut the fuck up" Donny

+2 for RPG mishandling

+3 for mistaking chewbacca for a bear

6/5. Do procure if you foreigners vish zo see ze funneh movee made in ze fatherland.

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 12:01 am

Interview with Chris Morris, his inspirations are quite funny:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZUibQl7B7E

Cimmerian Nights · Post by **Cimmerian Nights** » Thu Feb 10, 2011 1:37 am

That's good stuff.

I assume the ultimate endorsement is when a fatwah or whatever is issued against him.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 5:36 am

The spam bot resurrected this thread, but I must add this much:

watched, laughed probably two or three times, felt disappointed

1.5/5

Username · Post by **Username** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 8:47 am

Think I'm gonna watch this one. Though it's very rare to find in the cinema. Shows on these people-cinemas and even then it's rare.

Maybe I can find a good download of it when I get an internet that doesn't cost 4 euro per 0.5 gig :p

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 4:00 pm

better go back to cheerful slapstick 2.5 men-esque sitcom humour kashluk [/sarcasm] j/k the movie was pretty funny though. maybe you are too detached from the issues portrayed in the movie, maybe i give it 3 out of 4 Ping G15 Hybrids i don't give a fuck :siegheil:

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Tue Mar 22, 2011 9:45 pm

I had really high expectations, too high mebbe? I dunno. A couple of jokes here and there were funny, but most of the time it just felt that the script and the actors were just trying too hard. The whole HA HA HAR HAR part felt like it was being pushed down my throat. Birds exploding. Explosions are fun! LAUGH GOD DAMN IT!

Like I wrote earlier, a couple of good jokes & good laughs ensued, but mostly it was just gray, boring 'meh'.

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:47 am

I suppose it requires a fair amount of awareness regarding the society in the UK - seems like audiences abroad aren't really getting all of it.

Though at times I do agree with the jokes are being pushed down your throat. Overall though, it is a comedy movie with serious social commentary.

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Sat Mar 26, 2011 10:50 pm

Yeah, well, the whole social commentary felt a bit flat or thin (for the lack of better words) somehow? Like: "ooh, the westernized muslims have actually just hidden their hatred and the Osama bin Laden -lookalikes are actually the good guys" felt, like, you know... Old. And dull. STEREOTYPES REVERSAGANZA OMG. But yeah, you're probably right. Some things, the shades of gray and all that shit, are really hard to understand when I have no better knowledge of UK society.

Jeff · Post by **Jeff** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:10 am

so, can we conclude that you "just don't get it"?

Kashluk · Post by **Kashluk** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 3:02 pm

Yeah, probably.

Yonmanc · Post by **Yonmanc** » Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:29 pm

Watched it. Wasn't great.

Frater Perdurabo · Post by **Frater Perdurabo** » Tue Apr 19, 2011 10:52 am

Kashluk wrote:Yeah, well, the whole social commentary felt a bit flat or thin (for the lack of better words) somehow? Like: "ooh, the westernized muslims have actually just hidden their hatred and the Osama bin Laden -lookalikes are actually the good guys" felt, like, you know... Old. And dull. STEREOTYPES REVERSAGANZA OMG. But yeah, you're probably right. Some things, the shades of gray and all that shit, are really hard to understand when I have no better knowledge of UK society.

Well see that part is in the movie because it actually happened. Quite a few years ago there was a police raid somewhere in the UK and they did go for the fundamentalist "good guys" because they seemed like the obvious targets, rather than the Westernised idiots who were actually responsible. That's profiling, and yet another part of social commentary that the movie is trying to make.