Four Lions is a 2010 British black comedy
film. It's about four incompetent British jihadists set out to train for and commit an act of terror.
Plot
A group of young Muslim men from Sheffield have become radicalised and aspire to become suicide bombers. They are Omar (played by Riz Ahmed), the leading member who is deeply critical of Western society; his dim-witted friend, Waj (Kayvan Novak); Barry (Nigel Lindsay), a bad-tempered 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 explosives but disagree about what to target. Barry wants to bomb a local mosque as a false flag operation in order to "radicalise the moderates", but Omar considers this idiotic. Faisal suggests blowing up a branch of Boots, but Omar doesn't think it is a worthwhile target. Hassan compromises their secrecy by allowing a neighbour (Julia Davis) into their safe house, and the team must transport their volatile explosives to a new location. Faisal accidentally blows himself up after tripping in a field, resulting in a row among the remaining four, who temporarily separate. They reconcile, however, and Omar decides to target the London Marathon.
Wearing various costumes to conceal their explosives — Omar 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 blow themselves up. Waj expresses doubts about the rectitude of the plot, but Omar convinces him to go ahead. Hassan loses his nerve and tries to give himself up to the police, but Barry detonates his bomb using a mobile phone, killing Hassan and alerting the authorities to the remaining three. Omar realises he has led his unwitting friend, 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 Wookie; prompting a lengthy discussion of whether or not a wookie is in fact a bear, and what a honey monster is, Omar eventually contacts Waj via 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 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 the bomber. Confused, Waj proceeds to detonate his own bomb, destroying the kebab shop. Distraught, Omar walks into a nearby pharmacy and detonates his own bomb. It is revealed later that Omar's innocent and peaceful brother has been arrested and is suspected by the police to be a terrorist; that the police deflect responsibility for shooting the bystander; and that Omar and Waj killed Osama Bin Laden when Omar misfired the missile in Pakistan.
When my hubby introduced this comedy to me, I wasn't interested at the beginning. Well, it seems like I'm wrong many times by judging a book from it's cover. I slept off half way without knowing but woke up early in the morning to continue this movie. It's very funny indeed. I have enjoyed throughout the whole story as the black comedy is kind of unique. The jokes are very different from the usual comedy, it can make my hubby and I laughed a lot.
I'm not sure how many terrorists are there who are truly willing to sacrifice their precious lives in suicide bombing. I feel sad seeing Omar leaving his understanding wife and smart boy just like that.
If you would like to get a good laugh in your boring or stressful life, watch this! You are going to love it!
.jpg)
