'Captain Phillips' modern adventure on the high seas
When Tom Hanks speaks in Captain Phillips, his voice is almost unrecognizable behind the northeastern accent that he puts on, and soon, you forget that he is an actor playing a role as the movie pulls you into the fascinating world of international shipping.
Wait. What? The fascinating world of international shipping? But it is fascinating, at least as it is portrayed in this film based on actual events. Captain Rich Phillips is in charge of taking a ship past pirate infested Somali waters and safely to its destination. Phillips reads the pirate reports, starts a pirate drill and the pirates show up. Once again, I was caught flat-footed. How does anyone make a chase sequence between a giant seemingly slow moving cargo ship and a smaller, fast moving, albeit older boat? I may have to watch the film again to figure it out. As it was, I was on the edge of my seat. The film doesn’t just focus on Phillips. It also looks at the village life and motivations of the pirates. When the one pirate reveals that he took a Greek vessel worth $6 million, Phillips asks what the pirate is still doing on the water. The pirate tells Phillips to shut up, but the viewer knows from previous scenes where all the money went and what kind of penalty waits if the pirate should return home empty handed. Because Captain Phillips does not portray the Somali as faceless or nameless, especially in case of the young pirate Bilal. The human motivation for the actions of the pirates begs the viewer to ask if he or she would do the same. The scene where the U.S. Navy finally shows up is ridiculous. The four pirates and Phillips are in an orange lifeboat that faces the overkill of an aircraft carrier and two battleships, as well as a team of Navy Seals being dropped in from a cargo plane above. Captain Phillips is the best film I have seen and reviewed this year. |
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Think Tank Movie ReviewsCaptain Phillips (2013)
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