Four Lions is a terrorist blooper

The life of a Jihadi comes with much struggle, especially if you are a bumbling moron. The parody centres around four British Pakistani extremists, who believe they were born to blow themselves up

Director Christopher Morris loves topics that most film directors wouldn't touch without first getting a flu shot. Incest, anal sex, rape, suicide and sadomasochism through his career in radio and as a sitcom writer for British television, Morris has managed to make a comment on all these issues without facing too much flak for it.

Of course, you could say Morris loves his controversy, but he delivers it with a classic comic screenplay that makes you laugh first, think later.

The film opens on the making of a terrorist threat video. Omar (Riz Ahmed) and Waj (Kayvan Novak), go to a terrorist training camp in Pakistan and end by blowing up their own camp, killing Osama Bin Laden in the bargain. Barry (Nigel Lindsay), is a convert to Islam but fierce for the cause, while Faisal (Adeel Akhtar) is a suicide bomber afraid of dying.

So,u00a0 he blows up crows instead. While Omar is the smartest, making him leader by default, the incompetence is four-fold and one assumes that's how the movie gets its title. A few standard gags like not knowing the right end of your bazooka and buying liquid nitrogen off eBay, might force a laugh but it has plenty of genuine laugh out loud moments too.

At no point during the 1 hour 37 minute film do you feel like you are being exposed to any remotely intellectual thought. The only time there is a comment is when Hassan, the new addition to the team of Jihadis, stands up in a conference hall and shouts, "If you all think I'm a bomber and you treat me like one, then why shouldn't I become one?"u00a0 Blink twice and you'll miss it because this is promptly followed by his rap rhymes:

I'm Mujahideen and I'm making a scene, Soon you'll know what the boom boom means.u00a0 Look out for these hints but you are more likely to pick up some new Hindi gaalis, provided your DVD comes with subtitles.

The film is shot partly with a handheld camera, simply to add a different perspective and since the story is told from the side of the terrorists, it works. The irony is well-played when protagonist Omar's brother, a peaceful god-fearing Muslim, is arrested for having a prayer meeting while his brother is the one planning to bomb the London marathon.

The climax arrives all of a sudden but brings interesting twists, and the comedy turns to tragedy. We finally feel empathy towards the clueless trigger-happy dolts. Running around London city, undercover as a cowboy, ninja turtle, upside down clown and something called the honey monster, the Jihadis get exactly what they wanted but not quite as they planned it.

Written by Sam Bain and Jesse Armstrong, this is Morris' first full-length feature. Of course, there were the bureaucratic mumbles that claimed the film was blasphemous, derogatory, politically incorrect and then some, but Four Lions is not an attempt to change the world's point of view; the film simply pokes fun at a taboo topic of discussion.

And if by chance you are left a little smarter, it's merely a side effect. We don't know about the cause, but you might just die laughing.