9 Smart Movies That Tricked Us Into Rooting For The Bad Guys

9. It Humanises Terrorists - The Suicide Bombers In Four Lions

In one moment Chris Morris turned the rubber dinghy rapids from one of Alton Tower's overlooked attractions into a must ride for any film buff. Always raring to rip society to shreds in the most un-PC way, his first feature film told the story of a group of Yorkshire terrorists wanting to suicide bomb the London marathon. Grown Ups 2 this is not.

Like the bombers then based in Sheffield, I had the rather odd experience of seeing the cinema I was watching the film in appear on screen, but I was already enjoying the gang's presence long before that. Seeing terrorists humanised rarely happens in the media - that could be too scare mongering even for publications that thrive off it - so getting to see them as ordinary people, with ordinary interests (once again, rubber dinghy rapids) suddenly puts a sense of perspective on the whole issue. These are disillusioned men. By societal values they are bad, but it's not like they're unlikable or unsympathetic.

Throughout Four Lions it's made clear it's much higher up the chain where the real hatred of western civilisation lies. The crew we get are the stereotypical bad guys, but they're normal enough as people to get a pass from audiences.