Captain Phillips Film Review

Rating: 8/10 (2 December 2013)

Captain Phillips is a stunning action/adventure film featuring Tom Hanks, and Barkhad Abdi as captain Richard Phillips, and Somalian hijacker Muse. The movie takes place in 2009 on boats off the coast of Somalia and it stages the hijacking of a large American cargo ship. This thriller starts with Captain Phillips (Tom Hanks) leaving his rural Vermont home in route to the airport. He is flying to the Arabian peninsula to lead the crew of the MV Maersk Alabama, a massive American Cargo Ship. After several security briefings on the topic of hijacking the boat heads out on its long voyage through Somalian waters. Meanwhile in Somalia Muse (Barkhad Abdi) is required by his tribe to make some more money, and creates a crew that will hijack a boat for a ransom. After one failed attempt on Phillips' boat, Muse's crew is out for blood. They successfully hijack the boat, and then manage to get off with cash, and Captain Phillips as a hostage. The movie gets very intense as both the U.S. Navy, and Phillips' crew chase the pirates, hoping to stop them, and save Phillips before its to late. The film features an action packed ending that is hard to believe. The acting in this film was amazing. Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, and both of their crews show emotion so effectively that the viewer feels like they are on the boat with them. These actors played their characters so effectively that it was like they weren't even acting, it came naturally to them as if they had been in this situation in the past. The viewer will find one great example of this upon viewing the final few scenes of the movie as Captain Phillips is held hostage. The use of camera angles in this film really helped to make it the emotional, and thrilling film that it was. Most notably the use of close up shots on the hijacking crew portrayed just how desperate they were to gain their ransom for the captured captain. There was also a great use of high and low angle shots. The high angle shots were used to show the power the hijackers had over their captives, while low angle shots were used on Phillip's crew to show just how helpless they were. Overall I felt that this film was a great action packed thriller that does not disappoint. I would recommend it to any viewer who enjoys a lot of suspense, and an incredible ending. Tom Hanks knocked his role out of the park, and the great use of camera angles made it that much better. Once again I would recommend this movie to all fans of thriller/action movies.