Movie Review: Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips is based on the story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, which was the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred year. It is simultaneously a pulse-pounding thriller, and a complex portrait of the myriad effects of globalization.


The story goes like this: When a cargo freighter passes just outside Somalian waters, some men in a motorboat approaches the freighter and starts shooting at it. The Captain, Robert Phillips deduces they're pirates so he tries to keep them off the ship but fails. They come on board so Phillips instructs the crew to hide. The pirates go to the bridge and tells Phillips they want money and when Phillips offers what they have which is about $30,000, the leader has his mind set on getting millions. He plans to take the crew hostage and hold them for ransom. But since they are hiding he goes off to find them. Eventually the crew captures the leader. His companions who have Phillips, demands they be allowed to go in the lifeboat. They let them but they keep Phillips. They try to go to Somalia but the U.S. Navy arrives and tries to stop them even if it means losing Phillips.

Captain Phillips is of action, adventure, thriller, drama genre, which runs for approximately 134 minutes. It's rated PG-13 in most countries for sustained intense sequences of menace, some violence with bloody images, and substance use. The film started a little boring as Captain Phillips prepared for his journey. Things got a little exciting when the pirate motorboat had started chasing the cargo ship. Unless you are familiar with the true story of Captain Richard Phillips, you really would not know how the hijacking of the cargo ship would end. Some action scenes were intense and the suspense/thriller aspect was always there. Tom Hanks's portrayal was flawless. He was convincing and he really played the part. He truly deserves an Oscar nod for that. This film is probably in the same league with the film The Impossible, which is also based on true story about the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5 STARS

Source

Til then...

xoxo Nash