Four Lions

*May contain spoilers*

Four Lions is one of those films that you can't take too seriously. It's about a group of Muslim men who develop a suicide bomber plan. It has the potential to be really offensive and is at times quite risque, but if you're in the right mood, it's hilarious.

The focus of the story is the plot to make and detonate a bomb. However, the comedy aspect is added in the situations that the characters find themselves in. From firing a rocket launcher the wrong way in an attempt to take down a plane and instead killing your fellow Jihadists, to punching yourself in the face, to telling your best mate that you'd kill him, Four Lions is one laugh after another. The highlight of the film for me comes when one of the characters, Faisal, is running across a field with the explosives that they have acquired, and he is being cheered on by the other. However, he trips and falls, and then the explosives blow up. the moment of shock that the characters experience is shared by the audience in the typical "Did that really just happen moment", and then you start laughing.

The character Barry is fantastic. He is a white convert and is frequently ridiculed by the others for one reason or another. However, he is the most vocal of them all, and recruits a member to their cause. The scene that revolves around his idea of bombing the mosque is very amusing, and his death is fantastically funny. Barry's relationship with Omar seems to be a bit of a power struggle, with Omar winning because of his training camp experience and his ability to communicate in Urdu.

I don't want to spoil too much of the plot for those who haven't seen it, but every scene involving Waj brings a smile to my face. Him running away from the police dressed as an Ostrich, him taking a photo of himself on his phone to see if he is confused or not, and the 'rubber dinghy rapids' scene are very amusing. Similarly, the scene where the guys walk in on Hassan and their neighbour dancing to 'Dancing in the Moonlight', surrounded by all their bomb equipment is fantastic, and their explanation of why the neighbour has to leave is brilliantly uncomfortable. Omar using the analogy of the Lion King to explain his jihad to his son is another highlight which has me in stitches.

Despite the humour element to it, Four Lions is a very controversial film. It is a very touchy subject in this day and age, but it doesn't make a mockery of Islam at all. Instead the focus is on the "Dad's Army side to terrorism" (Chris Morris, Director; source: Wikipedia). When I first heard about Four Lions and heard what it was about, I thought that it was incredibly risky, and that there would be a massive backlash to it, but after I watched it I thought that anyone who gets too offended by it is probably taking themselves too seriously, and, at the end of the day, if you know a film is going to offend you, don't watch it.

The director and scriptwriters find the perfect balance between accuracy of content (e.g. training camps, how to make a bomb etc) and hilarious incidents that the film is 'just right'. The comedic element to it isn't completely mundane and silly either. The humour, while at times quite dark, is well beyond slapstick foolery. It doesn't hit you in the face with laughs, and instead is quite a smart humour. The quality of acting also adds to this film, and instead of boring characters with no soul, the actors manage to display different dimensions in their characters and definitely make the film what it is.

Four Lions is definitely worth a watch, because at some point during it you will be in stitches. I can promise you that. If you're not beside yourself with laughter then you are taking yourself too seriously, because this insanely quotable film is quite simply a bit of hilarious fun.