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Put simply, Four Lions is absolutely hilarious.

Four Lions follows four British muslims after they decide to participate in global jihad against the West. The comedy comes from the fact that these would-be suicide bombers are bumbling idiots. Taking inspiration from the 7/7 bombings of London’s public transit system in 2005, writer-director Chris Morris, who is known for his controversial comedy on British radio and television, takes a huge chance that audiences will be willing to laugh at such a normally serious subject. And the timing is right for a terrorist comedy. Whether the film is distasteful or not (and I don’t think it is), it is definitely laugh-till-it-hurts funny.

The film is filled with the misadventures of these five (there are five members originally, don’t let the title fool you) misguided extremists. After getting booted out of a terrorist training camp in Pakistan, Omar (Riz Ahmed) and Waj (Kayvan Novak) return to England to fight with their friends Hassan (Arsher Ali), whom they recruit from Pakistan, Faisal (Adeel Akhtar), and Barry (Nigel Lindsay), a convert to Islam. After somehow managing to make explosives from chemicals purchased at Costco, the group attempts to bomb the London Marathon, which serves as the slapstick finale to this crazy farce.

From a filmmaking perspective, the film is not extraordinary. The shooting style is much like that of other quasi-documentary comedies such as The Office and In the Loop. This works inasmuch to allow the dialogue and acting to really shine through rather than be obscured by complicated shot composition. However, the zooming that begins each new scene is just annoying. That being said, the real driving force behind this comedy is the writing.

The situations that our anti-heroes find themselves in are consistently unexpected and hilarious. A few of the many great sequences include moving bombs down the street in plastic bags, shooting at a US spy drone with a bazooka and no training, and an argument discussing the differences between wookies and bears. (Don’t worry – I didn’t ruin the best parts – there are so many, I don’t know if I could if I tried.)

In addition to its laugh-out-loud hilarity, the film also has something to say about the modern world. The reactions to the terrorists in the movie is definitely a send-up of modern culture’s attitude toward Islam as a whole. And while the film doesn’t preach at you, it definitely serves as both a farce and a biting satire.

With any movie about such a touchy subject, there is bound to be the obligatory “How could they do that?!” discussion, and I’m not going to ignore it here. Terrorism in the modern world is serious issue, and that is precisely why we need to laugh at it occasionally. All comedy is in a way being able to take a step back and see the absurdity in everything. Chris Morris’ movie is hilarious not only because it is surprising, but also because there is truth at its core. Yes, radicals kill people, and there are plenty of casualties in the movie to show for it, but it is still done in a tasteful, comedic fashion. It is truly impressive how Morris can craft such a hilarious movie that audiences will go along with, even when people start blowing up left and right.

Four Lions deals with a difficult subject with a fresh perspective and, in doing so, serves up the laughs by the truck-load. And although visually the movie does not bring anything new to the table, the writing and comedy definitely outshines this minor flaw. Four Lions is definitely one of the funniest films of the year.

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