Review of Four Lions (2010) by Ryan M — 09 Apr 2011

8.3/10.

I love documentaries, or films in general, that feature inspired dreamers who are often a little more pretentious than they care to be. Some seriously odd things have been done with such characters, and now, something rather brilliant has been crafted. The film that I am speaking of when I say this is "Four Lions", a brilliant satire/comedy about terrorist and suicide-bombers. And yes, it's British.

The film's "four lions" are Omar, Waj, Barry, and Faisal. Each one is lovable in their own way, and each one is an aspiring terrorist. Two go to Pakistan in the beginning of the film for a terrorist training program sort of thing, while the other two stay at home. Did I forget to mention that our heroes are all Islamic (one converted)? One more reason to love them.

The film is low-budget, and it shot like a faux documentary. This approach really, really ends up working out for the film; and I couldn't have wanted it shot any other way. This makes way for the story that is to be told here, and it also makes the humor just the slightest bit funnier. So think of this movie as a documentary, as documented by God. The four characters begin their quest towards the beginning, and by the end, they have discovered that they're not quite cut out for terrorism, although I won't describe how they find this out. But they're terrorists living on what little money they have, and even with this, they can still get explosives; and they do.

As you probably guessed by now, "Four Lions" is a very dark comedy. I like my comedies dark most of the time, since you can get more laughs out of evilness and darkness than you can normally get out of being light-hearted and "playing it safe". "Four Lions" does not play it safe. This is a savage comedy, which rather ingeniously satirizes terrorism. There are some memorably funny scenes, one of them which involves one of the "lions" tripping over some sheep and falling over his bag of explosives, killing him. Another funny scene is in which one of the "lions" wishes to avenge that very character by yelling, "We'll blow up the Internet!".

What you need to know about this movie is that sometimes, it wants to be funny, and other times, it does not. Sometimes, it's so dark that you instantly think that everything is placed for comedy. Take the ending, for example: it's very dark, and sometimes cruel. However, it's not meant to be funny; it's meant to be sad and it is meant to evoke a response. In some ways, I think it does. I find this film to be rather hilarious and brilliant; others will find it distasteful and offensive. There's anger in the satire, but I feel that this film has a heart. I liked how it did not intend on offending anyone, especially not the terrorist lot, and therefore I do not find it "distasteful". There are some scenes outside of the satire that are funny, and then there are also some surprisingly human moments. This film felt sincere, and over time, we grow to like these characters very much. I may like it more than others, but I'm willing to be honest when I like a film as much as I do this one. It's smart, and might as well be one of the funniest films to be released in 2010; and there weren't many. Take "Four Lions" for what it is: the best film in which the Heimlich maneuver actually BRINGS you death instead of preventing it. Now how many films can be so funny? Your answer: not many, so that's why when you see a film as unique as this one, you take the ticket.