We Are Four Lions

I remember the first time I saw this film, thinking it was one of the funniest I had ever seen, and I haven't seen many that have made me laugh as much since. Chris Morris is known for black comedy and 'Four Lions' is certainly fantastically dark.

The plot, the characters, the dialogue - everything about the film is funny. The stupidity of the main characters combined with the absurdity of their plans make this a truly hilarious film and a great piece of entertainment.

'Four Lions' is a comedic gem. A rare naturally funny film that is guaranteed to make you laugh.

Four Lions may be a black comedy, but the subject matter is anything but, dealing with the real threat of self radicalized men who take it upon themselves to wage what they deem is a holy war against the infidels of their religion, capitalism and Western ideals, about the men who are frighteningly misguided in their beliefs which we may find absurd, but they holding it very dearly to their hearts, nevermind if it's actually the blind leading the blind.

Co-written and directed by Christopher Morris, the film follows the journey of a few friends and acquaintances brought together by Barry (Nigel Lindsay), a self-styled firebrand convert and Omar (Riz Ahmed) the unofficial leader who assemble like minded radicals to take on what they felt is a path of righteousness and a fast track to heaven, nevermind if for narrative purposes his recruitment tactics is questionably risky at best (not to mention funny, I did say it was a comedy). It's almost like a satire on the 101 basics on how one transforms from all talk to all action, going on trips to Pakistan to meet up with mujahedins or holy warriors in order to learn the ropes in becoming soldiers and tested in battle, to the assembling of explosives, deciding on a target and then executing it, complete with the quintessential video recordings to explain the rationale behind the deeds.

It parodies many of what you've seen and read in the news, and while you may dismiss it as making light of dead serious situations, here's where its brilliance emerged. From within the comedy that come fast and furious that you find yourself inevitably laughing at the clueless wannabes, there are moments of poignancy especially when you realize that the wannabes have gone way past the point of no return, and with the wheels of destruction set in motion, there's no turning back really. In a way it reflects upon how detection of the clandestine activities may sometimes be stranger than fiction, but it is usually missed opportunities, especially with the countless of screw ups that go undetected, that serve as the real threat to society with prejudices and discrimination at play.

Ultimately those who truly suffer are friends and especially family, and the story does not mince that impact even though most are centered around the closing credits in an epilogue. Family isn't far behind especially when time got devoted to focus on the ringleader's, that here's a man willing to sacrifice what's worldly for a calling so perceived higher than self and for the greater good. Not only those on the other side of the law get put in a spotlight, but how the authorities and politicians behave got their fair share of critique, though in a fashion of less being more.

Four Lions adopted the shaky cam throughout which in a way tried to mirror a documentary, and to some this may be tiring to watch since the camera bounces around and doesn't stay still for the most parts. This is perhaps the only aspect of the film that I disliked, though you'll soon find yourself tickled if you pay close attention to the dialogue which were thoroughly filled with wickedly funny lines. The trailer may have accidentally revealed the funnier, slapstick aspects of the film, but its wit was firmly found in the spoken words.

Riz Ahmed is as charismatic a ringleader as he can be, and Kayvan Novak plays Waj his less than intelligent friend and blind follower with a sense of sensitivity that will tug at your heart when Omar realizes what he had done, and you'll definitely feel something for the Waj character when you ponder over how many real world counterparts who exist in the real world, being all too trusting with their leaders in being lambs laid out for slaughter, conned with an ideal of a promise. Adeel Akhtar's Faisal the bomb maker will nearly always make you laugh at his naivety and sheer stupidity, being one of the characters that draw the most laughs besides Waj.

It's easy to lapse into stereotypes and branding a message of hate, but Four Lions is nothing of that sort. What it does is to make one sit up and take notice of the troubles that are plaguing our modern day society, where there are those who do not feel inclusive, and decide to take it upon themselves to address their grievances through the use of violence. It's seriousness hidden under the guise of comedy, and I dare say you'll get more out of this film than from whatever else that's screening this week. Highly recommended!

In the UK, Chris Morris is famous for the very controversial "Brasseye" series, and he has taken that iconoclastic attitude to the big screen to help create this wonderful little film.

It's a crude yet intelligent satire on a group of young men who want to be martyrs for the Islamic Al-Qaeda in the UK. Rather than portray them as dark shadowy men, they are really just everyday bumblers and naive men. The frightening aspect is that despite the humour, they are aiming to mass murder which always is behind the scenes.

The film uses humour to demystify the self-styled jihadists and take away any sort of menacing notoriety and show them as the frightening bunglers that they are. The fear is when one group actually manages to carry out what they set out to do.

This film is worth watching. You will be rolling with laughter, but you will end the film with many thoughts on the questions raised also. It's simply another great bit of political satire, and I recommend it highly.

With The Day Today and its more acerbic follow-up Brasseye, supreme satirist Chris Morris made a mockery of the madness of the popular media by saying what he saw. It was funny because it could have been true. With Four Lions, Morris's focus is no longer on the manipulator, but rather the manipulated. Yet by presenting this jihad suicide squad as a group of bumbling misfits, chugging along the road to apotheosis in a car fitted with dodgy "Jewish spark plugs", it's still about the madness – here, the madness of a cracked ideology believed in mostly because it's made up as it goes along.

This is not really a film about Islam, or even religious fundamentalism, but identity. Omar (an excellent Riz Ahmed) speaks fluently about the "Church of McDonald's" and Western imperialism, and yet he's at the centre of a comfortable, suburban, upper working class family unit. Hassan (Arsher Ali) is an awkward, gangly virgin with a bone to pick with his Media Studies teacher. Barry (Nigel Lindsay, who some might remember playing a terrorist of a different creed in HBO's Rome) is white.

For all their misadventures, there's a genuine tenderness and loyalty between these "soldiers". This is a side of Morris we've rarely seen before – an emotional spine that raises the film far above what could have resembled a series of sketches or, worse, a reel of better outtakes. Perhaps this is the film's greatest success: bringing its director out of the satirical shadows and into the comedy spotlight, and proving there's a heart to go with that clever head.

"What are we going to do tonight, Brain?" "Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!" Is it wrong of me to compare "Four Lions" to the WB animated series "Pinky and the Brain"? I don't think so. This film is filled with side-splitting laughter and satirical takes on suicide-bombers plotting one ridiculous terrorist attempt after another even more ridiculous terrorist attempt. Clone Pinky two more times, convert the four of them to Muslim extremists and place them in London in today's world, and you've got Omar and his fellow anarchists trying to teach the world a lesson.

Their incompetence is taken to the same extremes as their beliefs. Their possible targets include expletive-described Disney theme parks, their own Mosque, and using such genius methods as strapping a bomb to a crow, or to themselves as they are running around a field. You will laugh until you cry.

Laughs aside, it takes a special kind of film to create four protagonists out of inept suicide-bombers and emotionally connect you. And we haven't even touched the moxie that these filmmakers have to tackle such a subject. Comparisons to "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" and Monty Python are all valid here. Even if this story isn't your style, it's hard not to be impressed with how they pulled off "Four Lions".