Excellent: 9.5

Rating: 9/10 (28 July 2019)

It seems that director Paul Greengrass has a singular gift that hugely benefits his decision to stay exclusive to the thriller genre. That is that he uses a shaky-cam style of cinematography with traditional cameras to create the illusion that Hollywood (and by extension, us) is there in the middle of the events. It draws you inextricably into the film, almost making you part of it. It's a trick that has never failed him. But what makes Captain Phillips such an extraordinary thriller is how much attention is paid to the villains. Newcomer Barkhad Adbi delivers a great performance as Muse, the leader of the pirates. He is shown as being out of his depth, and once the hijacking of the ship goes awry, he is not angry, but afraid. There are those back home who would see him dead if he returns anything less than filthy rich. So when Phillips offers him the entirety of cash on the ship ($30,000), Muse knows why that is insufficent. This leads to a relentlessly intense film that escalates to a standoff between a small US Navy fleet and the four pirates in a lifeboat. It is the best thriller to be released in years.