Tom Hanks is back in the new action, thriller Captain Phillips. This is based on the true story of a American cargo ship taken hostage in Somali waters in 2009. You may not remember the actual incident, but you will remember the end game clearly. Enough said.
Hanks is Captain Phillips. A veteran ship captain of the huge cargo ship Maersk Alabama. It sails with thousands of tons of cargo in sometimes very treacherous waters. The Alabama was in waters off the coast of Africa in 2009 when it was taken by Somali pirates and was attempted to be held for ransom. This is common practice in these waters, as the corrupt war lords and organized crime leaders in this part of the world are very powerful. BTW, the Maersk Alabama was the first American ship pirated in over 200 years.
As the ship is taken, Phillips tries with all he knows to save his ship, and end this siege as quickly and safely as possible. But he soon finds that to be impossible. And he finds himself in a situation that is simply terrifying for any man, anywhere. Hanks is great as our hero, and it is good to see him land a nice role in as story worth telling.
The real star of this movie though is an actor named Barkhad Abdi. He is simply sensational as the "captain" (Muse) of the Somali pirates who commandeer the Alabama. The character written for him was remarkable, and complex. He gaunt and scary physical appearance here was amazing. He is truly scary in this movie, in a script that had to have it. You needed a believable, haunting, interesting and intimidating villain to pull this off and he is it. This movie, does not work without his performance and the inner conflict of his character. His character is the single key to success here. I don't now where Abdi came from, as there is virtually no information available on him anywhere. But he is terrific. Exceptionally well done.
Captain Phillips though good, does suffer from a couple of problems, first it is entirely too long at 2 hours 15 minutes. This could have been shaved some and been far better. It also belabors some points to point of nausea. And there are few dead sports where it all seems so slow. But in it's defense, it does take us where we have never been before. On the bridge of a gigantic freighter and lets us inside that world. And alerts of to the plight and bravery that it takes to sail these waters, and they do ti every day. That is well done as well.
Captain Phillips. Good, not great. A good night at the movies.
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