Captain Phillips Review

Movie Review: Captain Phillips

Watching non-fictional movies, or movies based on real stories, is something that some people don't enjoy in the least. When someone sees: “BASED ON A TRUE STORY” there are normally two reactions. Either the person slowly steps away and rips up their ticket as they walk out of the movie theater, or, it makes the person more excited about the film, knowing that the movie they’re going to watch really happened. Personally, I find it difficult to really get into a movie based on a true story. However, “Captain Phillips” is a film that keeps viewers on the edge of their seats, cringing in every scene and remembering in awe, that all of the events happened only a short while ago.  This survival story doesn’t give any hints as to how it will end, which keeps every viewer contemplating all the different outcomes.

“Captain Phillips” is the story of a Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) and his crew going out to sea on a cargo ship. While they are at sea, a group of African pirates try to take over the ship, in an attempt to get a ransom of 1 million dollars to help pay for their shipping company. Their leader Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi) climbs aboard and holds Captain Phillips hostage, threatening to shoot the crew and Captain Phillips if he doesn’t get what he wants. Captain Phillips tries to keep Muse calm and negotiate with him. The crew eventually overpower Muse and hold him hostage and intend to trade him  back to the other pirates for their captain. The pirates put Phillips on another ship, and while doing so, the U.S. Navy tries to solve the problem by negotiating with Muse and his pirates, trying to keep everyone as safe as possible. 

Tom Hanks starred in this film as Captain Phillips. Hanks is a natural when it comes to acting. In this movie, Hanks plays a role he doesn’t play often: a vulnerable yet strong-willed man. Throughout the film, Hanks has to keep his cool with the pirates and stay safe. As well as making sure that his crew stays safe. Instead of being the hero of the movie, Hanks is the survivor. Barkhad Abdi was an extraordinary actor. He fit the identity of Muse to a tee. He had the perfect attitude and made the viewers feel like they really were watching a crazed man take over a ship. He got into character wonderfully and expressed all emotions with passion. The other actors who played the pirates, Faysal Ahmed and Mahat M. Ali, followed his example with ease. What’s especially impressive is that none of these four men had ever acted before.

            What I really enjoyed about this movie was that it seemed like someone was filming the entire event through a hand-held camcorder. It added an extra effect to the setting of the story. I also liked the fact that there wasn’t any foreshadowing to the story and each scene left the viewers guessing what was going to happen next. I really liked that the whole movie was filmed at sea with a few boats. Overall, the filming and story was great. Sometimes however, the movie was a little difficult to follow. Some scenes were over so fast, if a viewer wasn’t paying attention, there was no way they would know what was going on. But, that just means that viewers need to pay special attention to this story.

            Something that viewers would learn from this story is that the sea may be a dangerous place, and anything could happen to anyone at anytime. Even a cargo ship with no weapons. It makes viewers more aware that pirates still exist and they aren’t just fables or legends. It also makes captains more admirable. No matter what, a good captain will always take care of his crew and ship, and will take any measure to make sure everyone is okay.  

            I think people who would really like this movie would be people who like to watch survival stories and movies that are based on true stories. Most likely, young children wouldn’t be interested in this movie, and probably shouldn’t be shown it either, due to a few graphic scenes and language. The rating of this movie PG-13 which makes complete sense to me after watching the film itself.  On a final note, I think the movie was a masterpiece and that everyone who was a part of it deserves a standing ovation. It’s extremely difficult to capture the feelings and emotions of characters in a true story, but this movie was one of the few who reached that goal.

Rate  1-10:

9.5