A masterful, towering movie of excitement, drama, suspense, shock and ultimately, intense emotion.

Rating: 10/10 (10 April 2016)

I wasn't particularly looking forward to watching Captain Phillips as the subject matter didn't really appeal to me, but almost from the opening credits, I was completely hooked. It is a masterful, towering movie of excitement, drama, suspense, shock and ultimately intense emotion. In my humble opinion, it is far and away finest performance by Tom Hanks. Based on a true story, the film is about a gigantic, ocean-going container vessel being hijacked by a tiny band of desperate Somalis, and the immediate aftermath of this daring but utterly criminal act. We get to know the two main protagonists: Captain Phillips, (Tom Hanks), who is the strong, silent and incredibly brave master of the vessel, and the Somali hijack gang leader, Muse, (Barkhad Abdi).
I cannot write much about the plot without spoiling the story for those of you who haven't yet seen it, but suffice to say that it romps along at quite a pace and things develop in dramatic and unexpected ways. I can guarantee that you will never become bored for one millisecond while watching this exciting and brilliantly acted movie. All the cast are totally believable in their roles, and there are no one- dimensional or 'plastic characters' – not even in the US Navy. The cinematography and direction (by Paul Greengrass) is so realistic that sometimes you think you are watching footage of the actual event.
Even though we in the west deplore these hijackings and hostage taking, the film manages to perform an incredible task – it actually succeeds in evoking a measure of sympathy for the plight of the Somali perpetrators, and in particular, their leader, Muse. In the end, few watching can fail to be moved by the physical and emotional torment of Captain Phillips and if you leave the cinema dry-eyed and also without a feeling of being uplifted by the turnout of events, then you are not human.
I note that the user reviews on IMDb are almost 100% unanimous in their high praise of this very worthwhile and 'must-see' piece of entertainment.