Movie Review
Captain Phillips Review:
Action-packed Captain Phillips shows suspenseful hostage story
Based off a true story about a terrifying experience and a brave crew, the movie Captain Phillips lets viewers see an accurate representation of what being held hostage at sea is like. Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) was the captain of the container ship, Maersk Alabama. In 2009, the ship was attacked and took over the ship's captain by four somali pirates. Phillips was held hostage by the pirates in a lifeboat for four days, and the U.S was on the edge of their seat waiting to see the outcome of the situation, just like the audience while watching this movie.
The iconic director, Paul Greengrass, turned this experience into a film, allowing viewers to see what it was really like. At the beginning of the movie, the audience sees two different perspectives, the life of a captain in Alabama, and the life of the Somali pirates. By showing where they came from, the audience was able to understand the pressure Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi) wanted to be captain, why the young Adan Bilal (Barkhad Abdiranman) was so scared, and why Najee (Faysal Ahmed) fought for power so much.
The opening set up the movie extremely well because it showed the extreme poverty and terrifying environment the Somalis were in, which caused them to be pirates. On the other hand, Phillips was seen talking to his wife (Catherine Keener) about worries of his kids, which resulted in a stark contrast. The only drawback of this scene was the fact that the dialogue was cheesy, and made it a mediocre scene. This made me worry that the rest of the movie would be like that, but thankfully that wasn't the case.
Once the Maersk Alabama started to get followed, the plot started to pick up. Shane Murphy (Michael Chernus) and Phillips started working together to get the pirates off track, creating a tense mood, but the pirates reached them anyway. After Muse said the iconic line, "I am the Captain now," the fight for power between the pirates and Phillips became prevalent, which demonstrated the theme of the movie - wealth and power. Once Phillips was taken hostage, what was most surprising was the relationships he built with the pirates. He treated Bilal like a son, Muse like a friend, and Najee like an enemy, while still being frightened and abused by them. He understood their motives, which developed their relationships.
By far, the most impactful scene was when Phillips tried to escape and then write a letter to his family, and the result scene was heartbreaking and showed how helpless Phillips felt.
Undoubtedly, Captain Phillips is a great movie, but would be best suited for adults, not kids, due to the amount of violence in the film. Overall, since I thoroughly enjoyed it, I would give the movie a 4 out of 5 stars and I'd recommend it to others. The only thing the film needed to change would be some cliché dialogue from Phillips because it could be over the top at times. The plot was interesting, the cinematography was well done, and the ensemble effort of the crew was powerful. SEA you in the theater!
Action-packed Captain Phillips shows suspenseful hostage story
Based off a true story about a terrifying experience and a brave crew, the movie Captain Phillips lets viewers see an accurate representation of what being held hostage at sea is like. Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks) was the captain of the container ship, Maersk Alabama. In 2009, the ship was attacked and took over the ship's captain by four somali pirates. Phillips was held hostage by the pirates in a lifeboat for four days, and the U.S was on the edge of their seat waiting to see the outcome of the situation, just like the audience while watching this movie.
The iconic director, Paul Greengrass, turned this experience into a film, allowing viewers to see what it was really like. At the beginning of the movie, the audience sees two different perspectives, the life of a captain in Alabama, and the life of the Somali pirates. By showing where they came from, the audience was able to understand the pressure Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi) wanted to be captain, why the young Adan Bilal (Barkhad Abdiranman) was so scared, and why Najee (Faysal Ahmed) fought for power so much.
The opening set up the movie extremely well because it showed the extreme poverty and terrifying environment the Somalis were in, which caused them to be pirates. On the other hand, Phillips was seen talking to his wife (Catherine Keener) about worries of his kids, which resulted in a stark contrast. The only drawback of this scene was the fact that the dialogue was cheesy, and made it a mediocre scene. This made me worry that the rest of the movie would be like that, but thankfully that wasn't the case.
Once the Maersk Alabama started to get followed, the plot started to pick up. Shane Murphy (Michael Chernus) and Phillips started working together to get the pirates off track, creating a tense mood, but the pirates reached them anyway. After Muse said the iconic line, "I am the Captain now," the fight for power between the pirates and Phillips became prevalent, which demonstrated the theme of the movie - wealth and power. Once Phillips was taken hostage, what was most surprising was the relationships he built with the pirates. He treated Bilal like a son, Muse like a friend, and Najee like an enemy, while still being frightened and abused by them. He understood their motives, which developed their relationships.
By far, the most impactful scene was when Phillips tried to escape and then write a letter to his family, and the result scene was heartbreaking and showed how helpless Phillips felt.
Undoubtedly, Captain Phillips is a great movie, but would be best suited for adults, not kids, due to the amount of violence in the film. Overall, since I thoroughly enjoyed it, I would give the movie a 4 out of 5 stars and I'd recommend it to others. The only thing the film needed to change would be some cliché dialogue from Phillips because it could be over the top at times. The plot was interesting, the cinematography was well done, and the ensemble effort of the crew was powerful. SEA you in the theater!
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