Captain Phillips Review

Based on the true story of Richard Phillips and the hijacking of the U.S. container ship Maersk Alabama, this film is directed by Paul Greengrass (Bourne Trilogy) and stars Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. The film follows Phillips (Hanks) as he is kidnapped by Somali pirates and held to ransom.

The film features some fantastic performances especially from the two main leads, aided by the powerful story and the great direction from Greengrass, the film has a perpetual atmosphere of tension which rarely lets up. You never stop feeling sympathetic for the protaganist and can feel the emotion through Phillips words and actions. At no point did I feel that he could have done any more or less, his actions and attitude towards the pirates feel plausible and authentic.

Tom Hanks as Richard Phillips

At a running time of two hours and fourteen minutes, the film could be excused for cutting away from Phillips more often as it sometimes does to show the rescue operations that are being planned simultaneously to the kidnapping. Nevertheless, Phillips and Muse (Abdi) hold most of the screentime. Greengrass has a great way of filming tense scenes particularly in claustrophobic conditions such as the lifeboat as well as action which he is well versed in particularly from the Bourne franchise. Abdi also deserves credit here as the leader of the Somali pirates who presents a very layered character, one clearly capable of violence yet there is a degree of understanding to why he takes these actions, he's certainly not a two dimensional villain and credit to the actor for that.

The film carries great weight and emotion, especially one of the final scenes which really aims for the heartstrings. My only grievance of the film would be that Captain Phillips story continues to be interesting after his rescue, it would have been nice to see some of that played out on screen but I'm nitpicking here really.

Overall, I would highly recommend Captain Phillips, of all the Oscar-nominated films I've seen so far, this one is my favourite at the moment, not only does it contain great acting from Hanks and Abdi but the script is airtight (forgive the pun) and the direction atmospheric, tense and immersive.