"Stick together, and we'll be alright".

Rating: 8/10 (23 February 2014)

Before and after the real time events of Captain Phillips and the Maersk Alabama, I kept wondering to myself why these cargo ships and other maritime vessels don't protect themselves with real live artillery aboard ship. The feeling was reinforced here having to watch the captain and his crew try to fend off the Somali pirates with high pressure water hoses. It just doesn't make sense to me. It's like we don't live by our wits or common sense any more and it's very frustrating because it seems to me that this event could have been prevented.
With that out of the way, there's no doubt that this was a suspenseful film and technically very well done. I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but the way Captain Phillips was depicted, he was a no nonsense, get off the boat if you're not satisfied kind of guy. I guess I'm not used to seeing Tom Hanks being that aggressive. As the story unfolds, we begin to realize that the real Captain was indeed a hero who put his own life on the line for his crew and his ship. Very admirable.
I was curious to see how the rescue ended based on the news reporting of the time and how I visualized the event. I may be wrong, but the way it was made to seem at the time was that the pirates were careless in showing themselves and making themselves a visible target to SEAL snipers. That notion was dispelled here, as the execute order couldn't be given until all three pirates were sighted in at the same time. The outcome, relying on incredibly precise timing and even more incredible skill, would in most movies be considered a matter for suspending disbelief. Here it's a matter of historical record. This was a riveting story.