Captain Phillips Film Review

Guns are scary.

Captain Phillips is a movie about... Captain Phillips. It's based on a true story about one man's ordeal of being taken hostage by Somali pirates. If you remember a few years ago, this incident was sort of a big deal news story. Now it's time for the Hollywood cash-in. Don't worry, it's not as bad as it sounds.

Characters

I was apprehensive about this film before watching it. On the one hand, I didn't want to sit through a political screed wherein the pirates are a bunch of misunderstood people and how the world is evil for forcing them to resort to piracy. On the other hand and extreme, I was in no mood for an "America, fuck yeah!" type of movie wherein Navy SEALS repel from helicopters to rousing rock music while fighter jets whiz by. 

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with the approach the film takes with the characters and the sides involved. The pirates are portrayed as desperate fishermen who resort to piracy for money. Well, that's not in dispute. The film however, doesn't make them out as saints. They're desperate sure, but there were many moments in the film where their greed got the better of them. Even when the pirates were clearly way out of their depth, they just had to make things worse. News flash: poor people can be just as cruel and selfish as the oppressors, real or imagined, they complain about. It's an approach that oddly humanizes them more.

Somali Fishermen

The American military in the movie were portrayed in a very professional manner to the point of being almost emotionless. The Navy were just people doing their jobs. There were no theatrics or fanfare, just "procedures". It was almost boring and you know what? That's a good thing. That's how armies are supposed to be in real life: professional. 

All in all, the film's portrayal of characters was fair which is great.

I found Tom Hanks attempt at an accent hilarious at the start of the movie. I'm no American so I can't say if the accent was correct or anything but I just found it funny. The accent was no longer a concern later on in the movie when Tom Hanks is reduced to few, short lines spoken in fear, yelling and crying. I found his performance really good but don't come into the movie house expecting an "action hero" Tom Hanks.

Barkhad Abdi, the guy who plays the main antagonist pirate captain named Muse, was also great. He had that look about him, you know? It was as if the director picked a real Somalian Pirate off the coast of Africa to act in the movie.Apparently, the guy is an actual Somalian, raised in Yemen and living in Minneapolis. The guy came out of nowhere and had no acting experience.

(Not an actual Somalian pirate)

The Story

There's really not much to say here. A ship Captain gets caught and taken hostage. If you followed the original story closely, you probably already know how it ends. But that doesn't matter.

What matters is that the movie is pretty damn thrilling. We know the story but we haven't been told the story, you dig? It's always about how things are told and this movie tells it well. I couldn't help but get hooked and wanted to see what would happen next even if I read the news stories. There's a lot of stuff in between you don't know about. It's these details that make the movie.

The Bad

One thing I found really annoying in the film was the camera work. It was shot like someone was holding a camcorder and following people around. It moved around too much. Look,. I understand why they did it. They wanted the audience to feel like they were "really there" so they went with the shaky-cam approach. It was probably just me though because nobody else seemed to notice. You get used to it in a while anyway.

Another thing in the movie that sort of bugged me were the Navy SEALS. The way they were portrayed seemed to veer a little into that "America, fuck yeah!" approach of military, macho movie bullcrap. 

In retrospect, I guess the portrayal of the SEALS as some kind of powerful force of nature was justified. It wasn't because SEALS are awesome because hey, we already know that. The reason was more to add tension to the movie. By the time the SEALS arrived, things were pretty grim and their presence gave the feeling that the final, potentially ultra-violent conclusion was drawing ever closer.

Conclusion

All in all, it was a great movie. I recommend people to go see it. It's thrilling and well-paced. It takes a very fair and even-handed approach to the story and portrays it in a believable and realistic manner. It takes a serious approach and manages to avoid, thankfully, unnecessary Hollywood bombast and flair.

Go watch it.