Captain Phillips

Allow me to start with what you likely have already read — this film is well-crafted and tense procedural about a true story. The fact that I still found it tense and exciting, even when I already knew the ending (including the oft-mentioned Captain Phillips ending scene) is a high compliment.

So why tell this story? I took it as a meditation on powerlessness, a film that didn't deal with heroes or villains, only victims. There's a shipping crew that is easily sought out by pirates, and there are the pirates that ultimately fail. In either case, it's not as if either side feels in control of their destiny. They're just playing to some largely unseen authority. After the crew deflects the first attempted piracy in the film, one character says that as a union member, he didn't sign up for this kind of danger. The reaction? He chose to work on a ship that went around the horn of Africa. "What did you expect?" he's asked. Later, when one of the pirates steps on broken glass and injures he foot, he's asked the very same question by his leaders. Even the two competing captains — the pirate and the title character — ultimately are swayed (or saved) by the power of the state. What did they expect? To be the one in control?

Well done movie, good script and exceptional performances. Specially by Hanks and Abdi but also the rest of the pirates crew.

Hanks could have won the Oscar for this one.

Let me begin by saying that Captain Phillips, as an action film, turned out to be much more than I had initially anticipated. I was expecting half drama / half moderate action film with likely a good dash of political hopscotch. It's probably a good thing then, that I knew next to nothing about the actual story, because I love a good surprise. Captain Phillips is two hours of absolutely intense and absolutely uncompromising physical and psychological anxiety. At the end of it, I literally had to sit for a minute and just breathe, because this story gripped me by the throat like few films in recent memory have.

For those still unfamiliar with the story – this is a retelling of a historical event; the first US cargo ship in 200 years to be hijacked by pirates. During which, its captain Richard Phillips is taken hostage by the pirates, on his own lifeboat no less.

I got the sense that, somewhere in between the lines it was the director's intention to perhaps create an opening for a different story to be told: that of the Somali pirates, and why they do what they do. We are told that they are fishermen, and sheer poverty has driven them to these desperate acts. However, I don't know for sure if I'm supposed to feel any sympathy for these men, if I was supposed to 'understand' their motives – if this was Paul Greengrass' intention, it didn't work. Because no matter which way you swing it, these pirates are the bad guys and that's as clear as day. No degree of poverty or despair should be held as an excuse for such gruesome acts. Then again, if this was at all the point, I'm glad it wasn't hammered down in any way. It was merely a thought, and one conveyed subtly enough for anyone to make up their own mind about this issue.

What is clear here, is that these men (only four of them, surprisingly) committed a terrible crime. Not even so much the piracy itself, but the kidnapping and abuse of one individual. This individual is played by Tom Hanks, and he delivers one...

Tension and chaos flood from incredible performances, making Captain Phillip’s powerful story riveting and compelling.

Captain Phillips is a tense fast-paced movie about a heroic captain saving lives and battling for his survival from pirates in the waters off the Horn of Africa. Hanks’ performance elevates the film from good to fantastic, making the fear, suspense, and quick decisions more frantic and pivotal. Paul Greengrass’ directing matched the story well, delivering a gritty, realistic thriller grounded in this courageous true story. Even with a long runtime, the plot was gripping and engaging. The quality and tension remind me of Deepwater Horizon or Patriots Day. Captain Phillips is an excellent film with a great cast and a powerful story.

Captain Phillips was fantastic, from start to finish. The performances were great featuring one of Tom Hanks' best. His calmness under extreme pressure was captivating but the ability to have that all crumble down once it is over was just, perfect. His raw portrayal of trauma was one of the most impressive feats of acting I've ever seen. For a nearly two and a half hour runtime, this movie was paced very well, filled with tension throughout. I was holding my breath in so many scenes as the pirates were within a foot of catching a crew mate or as they were creeping closer and closer in their small boarding boat. This constant tension mixed with a fantastic script and story left me glued to my screen for its entirety.

Score: 89% Verdict: Excellent

Tom Hanks works particularly well in this gripping story of a real life pirate! Muse (Barkhad Abdi) is leading two small skiffs on an attack on the eponymous officer's freighter as it sails off the coat of Somalia. A certain degree of bravado and legerdemain sees the bigger ship thwart their first attempt, but next day they are back again and the powerful hoses prove poor defence against machine guns. Most of the crew now take refuge in the gunnels leaving the captain to face their captors and for the next two hours these two men play an increasingly perilous cat and mouse game that sees them ultimately taking refuge in a lifeboat soon in the sights of an unforgiving US Navy. It works on quite a few levels, this film. The Somalis themselves are not religious zealots, and from what we see of their home lives are living a fairly subsistence existence where their acts on the high seas are to make money to escape poverty rather than t make political or religious points. As the drama plays out, both men begin to understand a little more about what makes each tick and drives them - and the intimate camerawork delivers well the claustrophobic nature of the denouement in a darkened and confined space with tension high, fear and panic never far away and a political agenda from the military that nobody watching is quite clear of. Hanks may take top billing, but it's the effort from Abdi and his boat crew that really steal the plaudits here as their efforts work on both dramatically and on the thought-provoking front, too. Certanly one of Paul Greengrass's better efforts making sure we use just about all of our senses to share their experience and maybe also to understand it all a bit better.