Four Lions is a madcap romp about a group of bumbling jihadists living in Britain trying to pick a target for a terrorist attack. Lacking any form of sense or intelligence whatsoever, the team manages to bungle every aspect of their mission, from the opening warning videos, where the gun held by the camera subject is way too small to cause any fear, to their training at an Al-Qaeda camp where two members manage to blow up members of their unit when trying to come to their aid. They even clash on their target, as some members of the group actually think its a good idea to bomb a Mosque to stir up Muslim retaliation. Four Lions is a scattershot comedy that misses the mark more than it hits, yet when it makes its mark it nails it with a few inspired extremely hilarious gags. Its characters are actually likable as well and I particularly liked the work of Nigel Lindsay, a British Muslim convert who has joined their squad, Kayvan Novak who places an order after barricading himself in a gyro joint during an attack, and Riz Ahmed who is the only member of the who seems to have any semblance of brains and tries to talk sense into his fellow members. In addition to being hit or miss, the film also suffers from the shaky cam which again brings nothing to the table in terms of cinematography. Four Lions is a daring movie that comes off so well in some parts, but should have worked better as a whole.
Entertainment Magazine
Four Lions is a madcap romp about a group of bumbling jihadists living in Britain trying to pick a target for a terrorist attack. Lacking any form of sense or intelligence whatsoever, the team manages to bungle every aspect of their mission, from the opening warning videos, where the gun held by the camera subject is way too small to cause any fear, to their training at an Al-Qaeda camp where two members manage to blow up members of their unit when trying to come to their aid. They even clash on their target, as some members of the group actually think its a good idea to bomb a Mosque to stir up Muslim retaliation. Four Lions is a scattershot comedy that misses the mark more than it hits, yet when it makes its mark it nails it with a few inspired extremely hilarious gags. Its characters are actually likable as well and I particularly liked the work of Nigel Lindsay, a British Muslim convert who has joined their squad, Kayvan Novak who places an order after barricading himself in a gyro joint during an attack, and Riz Ahmed who is the only member of the who seems to have any semblance of brains and tries to talk sense into his fellow members. In addition to being hit or miss, the film also suffers from the shaky cam which again brings nothing to the table in terms of cinematography. Four Lions is a daring movie that comes off so well in some parts, but should have worked better as a whole.
