Quickly paced; suspenseful

Rating: 8/10 (20 October 2013)

Captain Phillips is the story of the hijacking of the Maersk Alabama in 2009 off the coast of Somalia. The movie is quickly paced until the final act when it seemed to lose its momentum. Don't get me wrong; there was still plenty of suspense in that final act but the pacing slowed dramatically. The small cast feel of things was also lost when the US Navy showed up. No surprise there; that happens when the US Navy shows up.
Hanks and the lead Somali pirate(Barkhad Abdi)have a very interesting interaction throughout the film as Abdi sometimes menaces and sometimes protects Hanks.
Captain Phillips seems to be in a head-to-head competition with Gravity. In my book, Captain Phillips wins hands down.