Paul Greengrass has again delivered an epic cinematic experience dealing with contemporary issues

Rating: 8/10 (13 October 2013)

Captain Phillips, for those of you who are aware of the American cargo ship hijacking incident occurred a few years ago, in 2009, the movie is the portrayal of a true story of the Captain, Richard Phillips' heroic guidance to lead his crew away from the hostile situation from the pirates. It's extremely rare to see a film with this scale and cast to deliver a message across of such sensitive contemporary topic.
Let me start dissecting the film begin with the antagonists which play a brilliant roles in the story. Barkhad Abdi's performance as Muse, the 'captain' of the pirate motorboat, is simply stunning. His performance is an impeccable portrayal of Somali pirate who would hijack the cargo ship at any costs, even death which is the formidable spirit within this character which stands out the most amongst other pirates in the film. Nevertheless, the screenwriter Billy Ray has given so much complexity in the antagonists which become the crucial drive of the movie. Faysal Ahmed who plays Najee, is the fiercest and strongest of them all, a masculine type character who incessantly threatened to kill Captain Phillips and often irritated by the Captain's talking. Mahat Ali's role as Bilal is a sporadic pirate and the youngest of the pirates, seems indecisive and inexperience at times which has built interesting relationship with the captain. The character seems to be more compassionate and adopted less aggressive approach to the hostages which has established a vivid relationship with other characters.
The confrontation between Hanks and the pirates intrigued by the negotiation of the ransom or robbery as it appeared so. The mind tricks he plays when the pirates' motorboat approaches the mother ship, the amount of control that Muse dictates to attain when he get on board, all of these details of the story is all unraveled in the film expertly. It's not often to see such movie with such abundant intensity and tension throughout the entire 134 minutes and it has given me a thrilling cinematic experience in the course of the film.
I have always admired Hanks' work and the diversity in the roles he's played throughout his acting years. From Forrest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, Catch me if you can, to The Terminal, Hanks' has constantly found a way to exceeded audience's expectation and bring out the essence and complexity of the character. Playing the captain of MV Maersk Alabama is no exception, his acting inject realism to the protagonist which is vital to execute the film seamlessly as the film is based on a real story of a realistic hostage situation. Through the film, we understand that Richard Phillips play numerous roles in his life other than just the captain who is responsible for the operation of the cargo ship. Though his prominent role is the captain, he is also a father and a husband which might seem orthodox, yet it has again brought realism to the fate when someone's on the verge of dying and leaving people he cares about behind.
It is noteworthy of the techniques deployed in the film, the use of shaky hand cameras which could be irritating and abusive in times. Yet, it is ingenious that Paul Greengrass decided to adopt such technique which ties in with this contemporary issue of American ships hijacked by African pirates. Such experimentation of cinematography is prodigious for the film; it's been filmed in a way to depict a sense of documentary film which allows audiences in. The use of camera has also given us a sense of the tightness of the space within the mother ship and the emergency lifeboat which pirates use to flee back in later phase of the film. One of the reason why I admire Paul Greengrass's films is the sense of the topic he choose to film yet bring a captivating and new cinematic experience to the audience. Greengrass has again unveiled his awareness of the contemporary issues dealing with the society and tie those ideas into the film brilliantly.