well done - but propaganda like

Rating: 4/10 (5 April 2015)

The film is actually well done. Quite Thrilling. Characters are well played and the story is based on real facts. The storyline is a bit simple but well organized:
First a prequel: You get background information about the two main characters, a Somali pirate and a cargo ship captain. Both "getting to work" an are boarding their ships. First Chapter: Cargo ship is running. Some security checks are made. Everithing is getting more and more exciting. Then a first and a second showdown, where the pirates are trying to enter the ship. Second Chapter: About what is going on after the boarding of the pirates. A nice "hide-and-seek" play between both party's. With a showdown at the end ones more. Third Chapter: Hostage drama on a lifeboat. A good and a bad Somali guy. US Army and Navy Seals involvement and final showdown.
If you do not care about any message the Films is transmitting, everything works fine. But if you do, the film appears to you like just one more of these unacceptable American propaganda movies. The good guys are winning, the navy seals are the heroes. "Justice" is given. Some small hints about the situation of Somali guys to reassure the good intentions of the director: in one or two sentences it is stated that fishing-crawlers are making everybody jobless in Somalya. Thats all. The pain and problems of Somalian populations, the involvement of US foreign policy in "failed state" areas like Somalia. The enormous impact of US (and other rich countries) fish-crawlers for the population and the wast problematic (horn of Africa is one of these wast-disposal sites). All these kind of scandalous stuff is not really treated. The image of Africans is something like a unscrupulous self destroying, non-rational horde with a touch of pity. But America is performing his world-police-job with accuracy. Until the last shot.... in my opinion all this smells quite Stereotyped and propaganda like.
I'm happy to see that filmmakers from the southern hemisphere are getting more and more involved in these kind of topics. "Timbuktu" is a good example. Even if Timbuktu lacks a bit the suspense of a Hollywood movie....