Captain Phillips Review
There are certain iconic cultural items that when added to any movie, video game, TV show, or general life situation automatically ramp it up a few points on the awesome scale. They are like the bacon bits of life and include zombies, warp drives, time travel, jet packs, crossbows (or spear guns), grizzly bears, witch doctors, cyborgs, tanks, and super hot bikini clad girl ninja assassins (or ninjas in general, but I really go for the martial artist who has mastered the art of cleavage distraction along with throwing stars). Lord knows any one of these would have livened up my last horrible dating experience.
Pirates is another one of these magical spices of life, so this movie already started on the plus side of awesome. The fact that it stars the great Tom Hanks and is otherwise pretty spectacular helps too, but let us not forget that this film would not have been made were it not for pirates. From Blackbeard to One Eyed Willy our lives are made better from the efforts of these seafaring rogues. (Pirate logo shirt comes from the Vintage T Shirt category)
I saw this a few days ago and enjoyed the hell out of it. It has all I really want from a film: Good story, excellent acting, some decent character development, and pirates. Naturally I woke up the next morning and was dismayed to learn that a lot of the Alabama’s crew have decried the story, saying that Captain Phillips was more than less responsible for what happened and he was not the paragon of virtue that this movie portrays. At first I was all “Is it not too much to ask that I be allowed to enjoy a film about pirates and SEAL snipers and not have to sucked into a lot of crap by guys who may or may not be telling the truth but who did not get trapped on a lifeboat?” I was a little bitter until I remembered that while this story is supposed to be based on the actual events this is Hollywood, where one man’s fabrication is a whole audiences truth and any controversy surrounding the events can be comfortably ignored if you just like the film.
Also, where are the books written by the rest of the crew? If I were to write the autobiography of my life I would definitely consider not including the story of the time I went out with a girl only to have her go full lesbian after sleeping with me (to her and her partner I wish them happiness, by the way). No one is going to write a story about events that they participated in and include the phrase “The whole episode could have been avoided if I hadn’t been such a greedy dumbass”. I really can’t hold it against Capt. Phillips if he glossed over a few of his mistakes.
Anyway, the story. Veteran ship captain and all around good guy Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks-Forest Gump, Saving Private Ryan, the Green Mile) leaves his loving wife to captain a container ship from some desolate 3rd world port to another. He joins his crew including Shane Murphy (Michael Chernus-Men in Black, the Bourne Legacy, Love and Other Drugs) and engineer Mike Perry (David Warshofsky-Lincoln, There Will Be Blood, Now You See Me). They plot a course past the Somali coast.
Meanwhile fisherman and pirate Muse (Barkhad Abdi-no other credits) is feeling the pressure from his war boss to capture a ship for ransom. He chooses a crew for his skiff including Bilal (Barkhad Abdirahman-no other credits), Najee (Faysal Ahmed-no other credits) and young Elmi (Mahat M. Ali). The team up with another skiff on a mothership and go hunting.
Captain Phillips has received warnings of increased pirate activity and puts the crew through a piracy drill. While this is going on Muse and his crew approach from the rear. Phillips and crew managed to avoid them and move out. The next day Muse returns and manages to board the ship. The crew hides in the engineering section while Muse captures Phillips and the bridge crew. Muse takes the captain on a search of the ship, looking for the rest of the crew.
Elmi manages to get injured and has to be returned to the bridge. The crew overpowers Muse and a trade of the money in the ship safe and the two captains is arranged. The pirates leave in the ship lifeboat but at the last minute keep Phillips.
Eventually the US Navy shows up and things start to get serious. Phillips attempts to bond with Muse and the rest of the crew, but to little avail. He helps young Elmi but Bilal is aggressive and violent. At one point he tries to swim off but is recaptured. Seals show up and set up snipers. If you watched the news you know how this ends. Muse gets captured and the rest of the pirates suffer bullet overdose.
The stars:
Powerful performances from both Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. You really get sucked into the story. Two stars. The rest of the acting was very good too. One star. Pirates. One star. Navy SEALs. One star. I liked seeing a story based on events I had just seen on the news. It let me feel closer to the action. One star. An attempt was made to show the pirate motivation and the kinds of pressure they were getting from their bosses. Nice cultural overtone. One star. Overall a fun time and engaging story. Two stars. Total: eight stars.
The black holes:
I suppose I have to say something about the rest of the crew saying it was bogus. One black hole. After they get into the lifeboat the story kind of drags more than a little. You will find some sluggish moments there. One black hole. Total: two black holes.
A total of six black holes. Not as good as Gravity IMO but still well worth seeing. However, I think this movie could be easily enjoyed in the comfort of your living room. Nothing in the film really requires a huge movie screen. If you are a fan of good film see it in a theater otherwise wait for NetFlix. Date movie? Meh. I kind of think this one won’t do much for you. Take her to see Gravity. Bathroom break? There are a ton of redundant scenes once they take off in the lifeboat. Don’t miss the last fifteen minutes however.
Thanks for reading. Short review but when I like a movie but not love it that is what you get. Feel free to follow me on Twitter @Nerdkungfu. If you have comments on this film or my review post them here, and if you have off topic questions or suggestions feel free to email me at [email protected]. Have a great night.
Dave
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