Captain Phillips
Starring: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi
Director: Paul Greengrass
Rating: 4.5/5
Hanks really captures the wheels going around in Phillips’ mind as he tries to figure out what is the best thing to do.
It really is a powerhouse performance from Hanks and he really does steal your attention every time he is on the screen. Many may see this movie already knowing how the story ends, but that does not stop Hanks from making your believe that danger and possible death could just be around the corner.
A group of Somali actors have been cast to play the pirates in the film, and it is Barkhad Abdi that really does stand out as Muse.
Muse really is the villain of the piece and yet Abdi plays him in such a way that you can’t help but like him. His initial plan doesn’t involve violence, and all he wants to do is earn some money to make his life better.
Paul Greengrass has brought some true stories to the big screen in the past, and now he is back with Captain Phillips: a movie that see him team up with Tom Hanks for the very first time.
Captain Phillips is set to open the BFI London Film Festival with a bang as this is a film that is tense and gripping right from the very start.
The movie tells the true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.
This movie my be released close to the very similar A Hijacking, but each film takes a very different look at the same story and the same set of characters.
It is great to see Hanks back is a powerful role like this and he really does get under the skin of Richard Phillips. Phillips is an experienced and well sailed captain, and yet this event sees him take everything he knows and throw it out of the window in a bid to save his crew.
Many of the scenes between Hanks and Abdi are some of the most tense in the film – these scenes are packed with animosity, uncertainty as well as mutual respect.
While Hanks may excel in front of the camera, Greengrass is on top form behind it Captain Phillips is a really riveting watch.
Greengrass has always made excellent action movies, and from the second that Phillips spots the boats on the radar, Greengrass doesn’t allow you to take a breath.
The action really drives this film and yet it is the central character, and the fight of that character that will really hold your attention.
Captain Phillips is a movie that I have been looking forward to for a long time, and it really doesn’t disappoint. It is one of the best films of 2013 so far and is the perfect film to kick off the BFI London Film Festival.
Captain Phillips received its European premiere at the BFI London Film Festival and will be released 18th October.
Tagged in BFI