Critic Watch Blog #2 - Review of Captain Phillips by Susan Wloszczyna

Given a score of 75 out of 100 on Metacritic and three out of 4 stars on rogerebert.com, Captain Phillips is hailed by critic Susan Wloszczyna as having "one of the most emotionally draining climaxes of the year". 

Based on the true story of the hijacking of the MV Maersk Alabama in 2009, Captain Phillips is a suspense thriller told from the perspective of Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks), who was kidnapped for ransom during the hijacking.

Captain Phillips takes command of the Alabama with Mombasa as their destination. During a training exercise they are chased by four pirates, but are able to elude them. However, the next day the same pirates, with a faster ship led by Abduwali Muse (Barkhad Abdi), are able to catch and board the Alabama. Phillips has his crew hide in the engine room while he tries to negotiate with the pirates.

Tom Hanks leads an unknown cast in Captain Phillips and of course carries the movie as ordinary family man turned cool and calm terrorist negotiator. Wloszczyna seems to like the movie, despite her average Metacritic rating, but compares thinks the pirates behavior "sometimes suggests they are emulating characters in a gangster yarn -- as if they have seen "Goodfellas" or James Cagney films a few too many times. The sadistic hothead who provides the brawn would do Joe Pesci proud".

Since the facts about the hijacking are public knowledge, the ending is not a surprise. Phillips is taken hostage, with the pirates hoping to ransom him to the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Bainbridge, which arrived to assist the Phillips and his crew.  However, the last scenes with Phillips held in a life raft with the pirates, keeps the viewer on the edge of their seats and as Wloszczyna states "..is gripping enough that more than a few theater armrests will probably require upholstery repair".

I agree with Wloszczyna that the movie takes you through a roller coaster of emotions. And with an ending that includes the US Navy Seals, Captain Phillips is an exciting suspense thriller that keeps the viewer engaged until the climatic ending.


http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/captain-phillips-2013