The four lions well, there are actually five are a group of Muslim men living in the UK. Led by Omar, who despises Western `decadence`, they decide to take jihad into their own hands. Omar and his best mate, the not-so brilliant Waj, attend a terrorist training camp in Pakistan with terrible results for their hosts and, at their return, the group decide to strike the marathon.
Since the stars of the film are also the villains, the audience is unlikely to cheer for them. Rather, we are given the chance to delight in the team`s incompetence like they`re some sort of Looney Tunes characters (with the climatic sequence even presenting them in ridiculous costumes, including one of a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle), only to be abruptly brought back to reality by a number of tense and shocking realistic moments. That is the film`s real power: to make us laugh at the absurdity of human behaviour while reminding us of its real-life consequences.
A courageous film that finds comedy gold where no one has dared to go.
Miguel Gonzales