Foxer55
A-List Customer
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- 413
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- Washington, DC
I went to see Captain Phillips starring Tom Hanks last last night and found it met my expectations. The movie begins with Captain Phillips leaving his home in the northeast to head overseas to meet his ship Maersk Alabama. Interspersed into this is the alternate buildup of the story in Somalia as the chaos of life there gives some background of how men in that war torn country prepare to embark on piracy. This background gives a good idea of the miserable conditions in Somalia.
The movie progresses into the routine at sea for the Maersk crew but contrasts this with alternate illustrations of a stressful buildup of events for the Somalie pirates. At one point Captain Phillips is alerted to radar detections that show approaching surface contacts to his ship and he nervously begins following what is the beginning of a pirate attempt to take the ship. One needs to understand that the laws of the sea apparently follow a "no hostile actions" policy between ships under non-military flag. One of the reasons commercial ships have been reluctant to arm themselves in light of contemporary piracy is they do not want to set a precedent of firing on pirates in small boats which could escalate into pirates using heavy weapons in response.
Attempts to take the Maersk are interesting indeed in view of the countermeasures used by the ship's crew. One thing that caught my attention was the absolute determination of Abduwali Muse, the pirate leader, to board the Maersk. I believe it becomes clear in the story he is driven not only by a sense of purpose but by intimidation of his leaders. Look for the brief discussion between him and Captain Phillips that results in the "we all have bosses" comment.
The pirates finally manage to board Maersk but I won't give any spoilers. Something else that caught my attention was the patrons in the theater really didn't like the pirates and every setback the pirates suffered throughout the film was cheered by the audience.
The film gives a good picture of how the Navy and SEALS arrived on the scene and makes it pretty obvious that someone at the highest levels in the government gave direct orders that the problem would be settled with Captain Phillips back safe and the pirates were to be totally expendable.
The end of the film is pretty emotional giving a really good look at how Captain Phillips reacted to his experience.
I found Captain Phillips compelling. I would give the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars. It isn't the best movie I've ever seen but I think it was better than just 3 stars. Tom Hanks did a good job as Captain Phillips and Barkhad Abdi did a very good job portraying the hapless Muse who was perversely motivated by purpose but clearly out of his depth in dealing with a world advanced beyond his understanding.
The movie progresses into the routine at sea for the Maersk crew but contrasts this with alternate illustrations of a stressful buildup of events for the Somalie pirates. At one point Captain Phillips is alerted to radar detections that show approaching surface contacts to his ship and he nervously begins following what is the beginning of a pirate attempt to take the ship. One needs to understand that the laws of the sea apparently follow a "no hostile actions" policy between ships under non-military flag. One of the reasons commercial ships have been reluctant to arm themselves in light of contemporary piracy is they do not want to set a precedent of firing on pirates in small boats which could escalate into pirates using heavy weapons in response.
Attempts to take the Maersk are interesting indeed in view of the countermeasures used by the ship's crew. One thing that caught my attention was the absolute determination of Abduwali Muse, the pirate leader, to board the Maersk. I believe it becomes clear in the story he is driven not only by a sense of purpose but by intimidation of his leaders. Look for the brief discussion between him and Captain Phillips that results in the "we all have bosses" comment.
The pirates finally manage to board Maersk but I won't give any spoilers. Something else that caught my attention was the patrons in the theater really didn't like the pirates and every setback the pirates suffered throughout the film was cheered by the audience.
The film gives a good picture of how the Navy and SEALS arrived on the scene and makes it pretty obvious that someone at the highest levels in the government gave direct orders that the problem would be settled with Captain Phillips back safe and the pirates were to be totally expendable.
The end of the film is pretty emotional giving a really good look at how Captain Phillips reacted to his experience.
I found Captain Phillips compelling. I would give the film 3 1/2 out of 4 stars. It isn't the best movie I've ever seen but I think it was better than just 3 stars. Tom Hanks did a good job as Captain Phillips and Barkhad Abdi did a very good job portraying the hapless Muse who was perversely motivated by purpose but clearly out of his depth in dealing with a world advanced beyond his understanding.
