Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point. As the wheels fly off, and their competing ideologies clash, what emerges is an emotionally engaging (and entirely plausible) farce. In a storm of razor-sharp verbal jousting and large-scale set pieces, Four Lions is a comic tour de force; it shows that-while terrorism is about ideology-it can also be about idiots. Written by

Plot Synopsis:
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A group of radicalised young Muslim British men aspire to be suicide bombers. They are Omar (Riz Ahmed), the leading straight man who is deeply critical of Western society and imperialism; his dim-witted friend, Waj (Kayvan Novak); Barry (Nigel Lindsay), a bad-tempered and extremely rash White convert to Islam; and naive Faisal (Adeel Akhtar), who tries to train crows to be used as bombers. While Omar and Waj go to a terrorist training camp in Pakistan, Barry recruits a reluctant fifth member, Hassan (Arsher Ali). The visit to the training camp ends in disaster, with Omar misfiring a rocket that kills fellow jihadists; however, he uses the experience to assert authority on his return to Britain.

The group begins acquiring materials for making improvised explosive devices but disagree about what to target. Barry wants to bomb a local mosque as a false flag operation to "radicalise the moderates", but Omar considers this idiotic. Faisal suggests blowing up a branch of the pharmacy chain Boots, but Omar states it is a not a worthwhile target. Hassan allows an oblivious neighbour (Julia Davis) into their safe house; the group think they have been compromised and transport their volatile explosives to a new location in grocery bags. Faisal accidentally trips in a field, while carrying the explosives, and blows up. This causes a row among the remaining four, who disband; but they reconcile, and Omar decides to target the upcoming London Marathon.

Wearing mascot costumes to conceal their explosivesOmar as the Honey Monster; Waj as a man riding an ostrich; Barry as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle; and Hassan as an inverted clown they prepare to attack. Waj expresses doubts about the rectitude of the plot, but Omar convinces him to go ahead. Hassan loses his nerve and tries to alert nearby police officers, but Barry detonates his bomb using a mobile phone, killing Hassan and the police, as well as alerting the authorities to the remaining three.

Omar realises he has led an unwitting Waj into something he does not want to do, and sets off to make him change his mind. Police attempt to shoot Omar as he mingles with other runners but, instead, shoot a bystander dressed as a Wookiee. Omar eventually contacts Waj from his mobile phone but is attacked by Barry, who swallows the phone's SIM card. However, Barry begins to choke on it, causing a passer-by to carry out the Heimlich manoeuvre and detonate his bomb.

Waj is cornered by police and takes a kebab shop hostage. Omar then borrows a phone and attempts to talk Waj down. However, his call is interrupted by a police raid in which they shoot a hostage whom they mistake for Waj. Confused, Waj detonates his bomb, destroying the kebab shop. Distraught, Omar walks into a nearby pharmacy and detonates his own bomb. It is revealed later that the police have arrested Omar's innocent and peaceful brother as a terrorist; that they deflect responsibility for shooting the bystander; and that Omar and Waj killed Osama Bin Laden when Omar fired his rocket backwards in Pakistan.

(From English Wikipedia article, accessed on 2013-04-17)

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jamesgill-1 from Bristol, England
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Like Charlie Chaplin's Hitler, Chris Morris' 'Four Lions' shows that no subject can escape comic scrutiny; humour always seems to find the ability to expose the ridiculous in otherwise appalling situations. This satirical black comedy vents its disgust at the pseudo-morality of suicide bombing, whilst managing to portray its terrorists with an affection that allows the audience an unexpected emotional attachment with these supposed figures of violence.

The film follows a terrorist cell of blundering, inept, and impossibly stupid would-be suicide bombers on their quest towards martyrdom – we follow them failing miserably in a Pakistan training camp, trying to run through sheep fields whilst carrying bags of explosives, attaching bombs to crows, all the time creating a chaotic 'blooper' reel of attempted martyrdom videos. These suicide bombers are not the feared assassins of popular imagination, but absurd and easily led dupes who encourage laughter and ridicule – and significantly, in the end, pity.

The comedy of 'Four Lions' lies in the power of its bathos: the film reduces the dreaded spectre of suicide bombing to a ludicrous pageant of ineptitude. It's a film with fast laughs and dim wit in abundance, an absurd 'How Not-To Guide' to martyrdom.

However, the audience cannot help but feel pity for the characters as their plot reaches its climax. There is a sad inevitability to the group's last moments together; despite the horror of what the bombers are planning, the audience has been lulled into sympathising with their situation. The sadness of the film comes with the audience's realisation that these characters are regular, likable, funny, naive people – they are not monsters in themselves, but made monstrous by their susceptibility to absurd, immoral teachings.

The lead character Omar's interactions with his wife and young son are painful in their twisted depiction of the ideal family unit. At one point Omar (played by Riz Ahmed) tells his son a bedtime story about 'Simba's Jihad'. It is a scene that is touching, funny and uncomfortable all at once, a reflection of our responses to the film as a whole.

'Four Lions' is provocative in its comic parody of an emotional subject, but there is never any sense that it wishes to be deliberately inflammatory. Instead, the story is told with warmth and sharp humour; it offers us a fine concoction of derision and sympathy, pulling at our affections whilst cutting the terrifying down to the clownish.

James Gill ------ Find more reviews, news and previews at www.singleadmission.co.uk

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destroy-apathy from United Kingdom
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The film can be approached from two angles; as a comedy and as an important contemporary cultural text. As a comedy it succeeded beyond expectations. Part of the pleasure surely came from the spectacle of the event; a sold out screening with cast and crew present along with regional cultural references that resonated infectiously with many in the audience, but this can take nothing away from the many levels of comedy at work within this film. There were elements of overacted screwball comedy; there were underplayed facial expressions and reactions that added a wealth of character and personality to the comedy; further still, there were elaborately constructed situational set pieces. All these elements along with explosively dynamic dialogue that was well delivered combined to send the audience into tears of laughter.

In a separate issue to the comedy there was the cultural commentary, which is always going to draw attention when it is such a taboo subject as Jihad: a word that is often avoided at all costs. The film unapologetically offers a plethora of questions around motivation, meaning and justification which it never falls into the trap of giving patronizing, melodramatic answers to nor does it preach any solutions.

The many characters were all utilised to give different points of views and different perspectives; the main protagonist Omar (Riz Ahmed) was fully fleshed out, with the other characters used to offer differing ideas and obviously the above mentioned comic relief. Omar's brother for instance had such a minor part but raises questions around what he considers a true following of Islam, which he promotes as peaceful, but is then exposed as intrinsically sexist due to the way he practically locks his wife in a cupboard. That being said, Islam itself was to a large extent sidelined and the film much more overtly dealt with identification and senses of belonging for a demographic that has partial but not complete grips on the many angles of where its identity is created; this includes Barry (Nigel Lindsay), the Caucasian convert amongst the group.

Four Lions is easily funny enough to reach a very wide audience, where viewers will be left without answers and therefore forced to discuss these issues, which are too often brushed under the proverbial rug.

twitter - @destroyapathy

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come2whereimfrom from United Kingdom
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Chris Morris has never been one to shy away from subjects that others would call taboo or simply just wrong and that isn't going to change with his latest film 'Four Lions' the story of a group of wannabe suicide bombers. Not the most jovial of subjects I hear you cry, but how wrong could you be? For here we have not only a truly funny film but also a poignant one and one of the best British films of the last decade. Meticulous to detail Morris spent over five years researching the films central themes of terrorism and religion and a lifetime of studying human behaviour and it's only with this foundation that he, along with co writers Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong (Peep Show), could have made such a brilliant film. You will laugh and hard, then you will realise what it is you are laughing at take a breath and then laugh some more. In the same way that the recent American remake of Battlestar Galactica dealt in allegories of the war on terror, politics and human nature but just happened to be set in space 'Four Lions' just happens to be set in a terrorist cell and in his own admission Morris admitted that he wanted to explore group dynamics that could be found either in a football team, a club of sorts or the guys in this movie. It is so cleverly done that at no point is the film patronising or preachy it just makes you think about the absurd nature of how people think and what lengths they will go to for something they believe in. The film also contains some scenes of the gang spending normal time with their families, even discussing their plans with the children and it's in these scenes that we given over to the idea that they are ordinary people about to do something extraordinary. The cast play their roles, not only with great comic timing, but with an understanding of the subject matter that reflects in their performances. The script is so sharp that not only will you miss stuff on first viewing you will be quoting it for months to come. It is well shot and perfectly paced but let's not forget that this is satire of the highest order and in that there will be elements that might not appeal to all. But if you think you can stomach it then let me assure you that you will see one of the funniest films from one of Britain's most underrated and genuinely talented comedians. Rubber dingy rapids.

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marcus259387608 from Manchester, United Kingdom
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Chris Morris has had his fair share of approaching controversial subjects such as the brilliant Brass Eye. I so wanted this to be an hilarious film as it was a long time since I had really good laugh in the cinema. Here is another social commentary this time on terrorism and I was optimistic that this was going to be the laugh I was looking for even if the subject is controversial. The actual terrorists though are inept and have no real grasp of what they are trying to do.We follow them making plans and deciding that they want to strike the London Marathon. The question being asked all the time is can a film about suicide bombers ever be funny? Well the answer to that question in my view is yes because it is more about characters being so bad at something and presenting themselves in a bizarre sense. They are delivered in such an amusing manner that I couldn't help but laugh out loud at the sheer lunacy. In comedy itself being generally stupid and incompetent is something that in my view is extremely difficult to get right and can easily escalate to farce. In Four Lions though the acting is good enough and set up well enough that it doesn't feel like they are just dumping situations on screen and putting in random moments designed to gain comedic measure. One scene in particular when the group are forced to carry their bombing equipment on foot after their car breaks down. It has to be seen as it is just brilliant. In this the scenes are set up and the comedy is delivered very well. The humour can get quite dark and sick at times but not so much that it isn't funny nonetheless. I can understand why some people would shun this film and the humour is definitely not by all means universal but I would recommend it as it is a funny satire that you may enjoy. It is quite understandable if you don't though.

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bladou from France
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I'm no easy viewer and too often do I find myself being bored while watching a movie, or just barely interested.

I wasn't expecting much from this one and after a quick reading of the synopsis, I just thought "say whaat ?". As a reminder you might check again the IMDb summary and try to picture it seriously, you would expect some "sofa talking action" - as a friend would describe movies that have more dialogs than action scenes.

Long story short : that is, without any doubts, the most stupidly funny movie I've seen this year and if you haven't seen it already ... just go (Ok to be honest, I would also put Revenge of the Fallen even if its last year, the level of stupidity is clearly enough for a couple of years).

Whatever you are looking in a movie this one will deliver, it is filled with dumb-touching characters despite their "mission" as terrorists. The acting is not only great as a comedy but just strait out great, any one in the movie have something special and memorable.

Hell, you could even try to get a social commentary out of it but that'd be a long stretch, it's meant to be a comedy with a soul not just the usual "a few scenes funny and forget me next week" kind of movie.

I was really pleased to find this gem completely by chance and hope you will too as this is how comedy films are meant to be.

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gary-444 from United Kingdom
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Home grown Asian suicide bombers are not an obvious choice for Comedy. But Director Chris Morris makes a surprisingly good job of it in a work which is skilfully written and performed. The best humour has a ring of truth about it. And so it is true here. The plot moves from satire, to slapstick to straight forwards storytelling, and back, at quite a pace leaving the audience to make its own mind up about whether certain bits are intended to be funny, or just turn out that way. That ambiguity is probably the film's strongest suit.

A strong cast of Jihadists struggle to get a team together, struggle to get to a Training Camp in Pakistan from which they are sent home in disgrace, indeed they struggle to complete any task successfully. Yet they are not portrayed as buffoons. Never before has Muslim culture been lampooned like this, yet Morris shows it in such a way that they are Everyman jokes and should not cause offence to anyone.

The fact that this is low budget works to its advantage. The script and acting win and the documentary style filming gives it an authenticity which is vital for the humour to prosper. Riz Ahmed stars as Chief Jihadist Omar, but Nigel Lindsay steals the show as a Caucasian Muslim convert. Preeya Kalidas has a frustrating, underwritten role as Omar's wife. A nurse, and a mother we never really get her insight into the prospect of her husband, and father of her son, embracing martyrdom, even though she pokes fun at an over zealous cleric when he visits their home.

At 100 minutes, the film ends when it needs to, in dramatic and compelling style and does not out stay its welcome. For some this will not be funny enough, for others it will simply be in poor taste. But we should be proud that this sort of comedy simply could not be made in America, and is the first cinematic attempt to deal with a relatively new, and disturbing, social phenomena.

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John Rowley from United Kingdom
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4 Lions is an excellent well thought out film with a great pace, very funny, and very thoughtful.

After watching the film I wondered at some of the choices Morris had made concerning the depth of the characters in the film and their motivation. On reflection I could see the extremely clever and thoughtful way that he had written the script. This film is a fantastic means of attacking the media's paniced frenzy regarding Muslim extremist's bomb attacks.

I went to this film with no more knowledge then 'it's a black comedy about Muslim extremist bombers in Britain written and directed by Chris Morris'. Although I have followed Chris Morris' work throughout his television career. I didn't know what to expect at all - whether it would work or not. Some friends who said they had seen the trailer for it at the cinema said it didn't look that good. It proved to be very good.

It entertains very well and holds your attention. But the depth of the film is that after it you have plenty of thoughts on the subject matter and they all encourage an open minded re-exploring of thoughts on the Muslim communities in Britain and the media's frenzy around terrorism and Muslim communities in Britain.

There are specific parts of the film which are so clever in how they raise questions that I'd love to talk about them but I'd spoil the film. I think that it's best to go see the film and enjoy it as great entertainment. On the way out of the cinema all the issues involved will be real food for thought.

One of the thoughts I had after leaving was that Chris Morris had perhaps written this with the first audience in his mind as British Muslims and not in any patronising or preaching way, but further thought made me believe the film was for all English people specifically. Undoubtedly this film can work internationally and is well worth watching if you are from some other country. But it was great that Morris had made no concessions to this so he could tell the story the way he wanted to.

Other nationalities watching the film may well have trouble with some of the dialogue but you'll be OK. Watch this film, it's undoubtedly the most important film to come out of the UK for a very long time, and what's more it's bloody good entertainment.

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rooee from United Kingdom
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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.

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Joe from United Kingdom
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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.

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Luke Judkins
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This is the sort of film at first glance you believe shouldn't work. Just looking at what it's meant to be, a parody/comedy about British Muslim terrorists. My first thoughts were 'Too Soon?'. But then I realised this is just a mockery on something that has had a big impact on us all.

The film is based around a group of Jihadists that are planning to cause a terror attack on Britain but the group leading this attack is just full of oddballs which gives for great slapstick comedy and some memorable quotes that served the film well.

Christopher Morris has done himself good with this film and the final ten minutes were really an eye-opener to me. I recommend that this film should be seen by people who won't take this film seriously, it's a gimmick. That's the only reason the film's story worked, if it wasn't funny the film raters wouldn't have let this film be shown. So take the 100 minutes or so to sit down and enjoy laughter all the way through.

9/10

muslim|crow|bird|exploding animal|accidental shooting|explosion|night vision|scene during end credits|black comedy|disney|spy plane|mosque|suicide bomber|reference to osama bin laden|confusion|chemist shop|pharmacy|internet|puffin|video message|heimlich maneuver|accidental death|microwave|hydrogen peroxide|kebab|experimental explosive|homemade explosive|explosive device|explosive|ninja turtle|clown costume|bear costume|animal costume|bunny costume|costume|drone|collateral damage|bazooka|reference to mr. bean|bomb making|fake bomb|recruiting|recruit|islam|terrorist training camp|training camp|stupidity|muslim terrorist|muslim wife|muslim extremist|sim card|english accent|mujahideen|london england|england|2000s|police sniper|security camera|pakistan|marathon|two word title|shaky cam|islamic terrorism|jihad|singing in a car|animal in title|title spoken by character|number in title|

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Certifications:
Australia:M / Denmark:15 / Finland:K-13 / France:U / Germany:16 / Ireland:15A / Netherlands:6 / Portugal:M/16 / Singapore:M18 / South Korea:15 / Spain:12 / Sweden:11 / UK:15 / USA:R (certificate #46428)