"Captain Phillips" Movie Review

            If you are going into this movie thinking about pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean with Jonny Depp, then do not expect what you are thinking about to come on the screen, because these pirates are real pirates.

 

            Captain Phillips, which is based on a true story, stars Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips and several other guys to play the Somali invaders of the ship. Tom Hanks, of course, does great in this role. He portrayed the character well throughout the film and pulled off the portrayal of the character later in the film when big things happened with the character. The guys who played the Somali invaders also did very well, and that surprised me because this is the first acting part for all of them. I guess Paul Greengrass (director) really told them what to do and how to do it, because the overall acting is very good.

            The writing in the movie is also a positive for the movie, even though there were times when minor illogical or unrealistic things would happen. There was a small number of times where someone should have definitely seen something that they did not. There were times when characters had to not notice something obvious so the protagonist would not die. Those small events made me think that it was somewhat farfetched, and that probably was not what really happened. There were also objects put into places conveniently so that they would come to use later. There things placed in the story conveniently so that certain events would occur. I am glad to say that those are the only flaws I had with the writing. Characters’ dialogue seemed realistic and real to the character. The characters would talk about normal things and it felt like this was not written dialogue, but what real people say to each other. Almost everything in the film was realistic (expect for the conveniently placed items and events). It seemed like this could really happen, and this is how it would go down. It almost seemed like these characters were not Hollywood-ized forms of real people, but real people themselves… almost. They definitely did not seem like Hollywood-ized forms of real people, but they did not quite get be called “real people”. Major plot events were written to be realistic. They were also executed to be realistic. With such realism to it, Captain Phillips earns the title “based on a true story”. All of the realism to the film made me think that this is what really happened. Overall, this movie has great writing.

            I cannot really say much about the story because it is based on a true story, so I just have to say how close it is to the real story. I will say that the events were all very good, even though they were not the filmmakers’ decision. The events were executed very well, and were incredibly entertaining. How close is it to being based on a true story? We do not really know all of the dialogue, but the major events of the film followed the true story very closely. The way everything went down is how everything really went down. The way it all ended is how it really ended. It really seemed like the reactions were real and that what happened on screen is what they would really do. I can say that the events are good, because of the way they were written to be. The events could follow the true story well, but they could have been written in a boring way. Well, the events were not written to be dull, but they were written with care and treated to be entertaining. And, they were entertaining, but the events were somewhat weak (some were not), meaning they could have been executed better. They were just as enjoyable as the film was when a major event was not occurring. It had alright events. The “characters” were also really, really good. You actually care about Richard [Captain] Phillips in the movie. He had layers and you feel for him, and want him to him. The Somali pirates also had layers. You do not necessarily feel for them, but you see what they are doing.

            The film is able to sustain all of the realism to it, and also be incredibly enjoyable. I already said some of the major events were weak, but not all of them. Some of the events, preferably toward to the end, were pulled off well and were strong. The movie was enjoyable and almost the whole way through. There were some bland moments, but not any completely boring moments. Sometimes, though, the film was trying to be more intense than it really was. Some scenes were supposed to be intense, but they were not. Some scenes tried to be intense for too long. There was just a small number of these, but there were scenes that tried to be intense for about five minutes, and usually were at first, but eventually lost its momentum. The movie did definitely have its fair share of intense scenes, but there were some that were not intense. Though, the scenes that were intense were done very well. Some of them were riveting. Those would be the intense moments in about the last forty five minutes of the film. Almost the entire last thirty to forty five minutes of the movie were riveting. The scenes were so intense and I was glued to the screen. Up to then, there had been a few great scenes, but none riveting. It was very good up to those last forty five minutes, but those forty five minutes made the film what it is.

            The film also had very, very good special effects. The overhead shots of the ships and the shots of the ships from the side, inside the water looked great. This is a great looking movie. There were times when I could really tell that something was CG, but for the most part, I could not.
There was also an underlying tone in the film that had a bit of a message under it. The tone will not be caught by everyone, but it be caught by people who really pay attention, and that tone adds a lot to the film.

            Captain Phillips had very good acting, great writing, follows the true story very closely, is very done, had great dialogue, realistic characters, very good characters, some very well executed events, very good special effects, an underlying tone that adds a lot, was riveting or the last thirty to forty five minutes, had some intense scenes before that, barely bad any bland moments, and almost all of it was enjoyable, but some of the major events were not executed very well and were weak, had moments that failed to be intense, had some illogical, convenient, and unrealistic things happen, and had a small number of bland moments. This is a great film overall.

            I highly recommend seeing Captain Phillips in the theater. Please see it.

            On my rating system, I rate the film “I’ll Probably Buy This”.
            On the out-of-10 rating system, I give the movie a 9.1/10.
            And, on the grading rating system, I give Captain Phillips an A.