Film: Four Lions

A black comedy about four jihadists was always going to be a little iffy. That said Four Lions manages to tread the line between taking the mick and causing offence quite well, and I didn't come away thinking how wrong the makers had gotten it.

Since it's not offensive, it must be funny right? Well yes and no really. There's no doubt that some of the one-liners will eventually reach classic status, destined to be repeated amongst groups of Muslim people, and some of the sketches were genuinely hilarious. But although I did laugh out loud plenty of times, most of them were pretty shallow and so very short lived. I guess I was expecting something a little more sophisticated.

The same goes for the message of the film - it's pretty non-existent really. This might be a good thing as we avoid all the sticky situations of moral, ethical and religious dilemma and just stick to the laughs, but it did contribute overall to the shallowness of the film.

Riz Ahmed was excellent as usual, as were his support; They clearly had a good time making the film (although I did sometimes have trouble understanding their accents). It was well put together too, and I had no complaints about the technical side of the movie.

Overall this wasn't quite the film I would have liked it to be. Nevertheless, it gets a recommendation both for the novelty and cheap gags, but if you miss it at the cinema don't worry: a DVD watch will be just as rewarding.