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.
Review of Four Lions
