"One sheep was blown up in the making of this film." This sentence, which announces the closing credits of "Four Lions," is a perfect way to wrap up this whirlwind of a satire. For the movie's 94 minutes, the audience is taken on a rollercoaster ride of emotions as director Chris Morris explores the lives of a fictitious, bumbling band of terrorists who call themselves the "Four Lions."
"Four Lions" is the first foray into film by Morris, a highly praised English satirist. He is known for not pulling any punches, and in his career as a television and radio writer, Morris has brought humor to such sensitive issues as pedophilia, incest and — perhaps most relevant to "Four Lions" — suicide. He has stated that his goal in making "Four Lions" was to make suicide bombers who were "scary but also ridiculous."
To this end, Morris has assembled an outrageous team of self−proclaimed Islamic "jihadists." The characters mostly look the part — the majority of them claim some sort of Middle Eastern heritage — with the one obvious exception of Barry (Nigel Lindsay), who uses aggression to combat the handicap that he is blatantly white, adding a whole new dimension of humor to the group.
At the same time, this gang diverges completely from what is to be expected of it, as its members' incompetence and indecisiveness lead them blindly into situations that one would not expect the average terrorist to encounter.
On the whole, one can't help but notice just how British these men are. At times, this works to the story's advantage; for starters, nobody can pull off dry, dark humor quite like the Brits. The frustrating consequence of this is that — to a Yank, at least — some characters' accents can be unintentionally incomprehensible at times.
A tasteful amount of irony is inherent in the fact that these fully Westernized radicals fight for people who are completely different from them and who blatantly turn two of those people away when they seek training.
Still, our terrorist protagonists are united by a common goal: They wish to strike a blow against the West that will ring throughout history. Along with the desire for this action, they have the means to accomplish it, namely, access to a garage full of explosives.
But the gang simply cannot agree on where, when or how to perform its deed. When the characters finally do wind up with a plan, its specifics are preposterous and unexpected, adding to the satirical humor of the story.
Despite the film's brilliant premise, successful humor and outrageous plot, its one−dimensional protagonists hinder the film's success. The main character, Omar (Rizwan Ahmed), comes across as headstrong and unyielding, while his best friend, Waj (Kayvan Novak), cannot think on his own, relying on Omar to guide him.
This makes for a good comedy duo in the beginning, but the relationship gets old fast. It would have been nice to see deeper into the minds of these characters in order to understand why they were so motivated to commit an act of terrorism. Resentment of the "corrupt capitalist West" seems too hackneyed and too shallow a motive.
The movie does not always suffer from its characters' painfully one−dimensional natures, though. The film is truly buoyed by a couple of minor characters who infuse their own brands of humor into the story as it progresses. Barry, a misguided Islamic convert, and Faisal (Adeel Akhtar), who tries to train crows to carry bombs, bring hilarity to terrorism through unpredictability.
If this premise interests you and you won't mind feeling guilty at laughing at half of the jokes, this movie is worth seeing. Be prepared to rapidly go from highs to lows, however, as the humor is usually accompanied by a sobering message.
