Non-Stop review published in Venue

Third time lucky—I finally have a review published in my university's newspaper! My review of Non-Stop is in UEA's Venue, issue 295. Read it here!

Captain Phillips review

In 2009 an American cargo ship was hijacked by Somali pirates- wait, stop! Call Hollywood! OK, so according to the crew, the ship’s Captain was arrogant and ill-judged. But we need a protagonist, so we’ll have to alter that. We’ll have Tom Hanks play him as a typical good guy hero. He has to be heroic because that’s what the audience want – he can’t be too complex a character. The good guys must be good and the bad guys must be bad. We want to make a blockbuster here, so we’re playing it safe. Yes, of course we’re going to market it as being based on a true story!

Now, if you really want to know the story of the Maersk Alabama hijacking, you’re better off looking it up on Wikipedia. If you want to watch an entertaining film, it may come as a surprise that I recommend Captain Phillips.

Tom Hanks’ performance is what drives this picture. All other elements of the film are unexceptional, although that isn’t necessarily a bad thing if you go in with the right expectations. No time is wasted in developing characters – and why bother? What little we learn of Phillips’ family is forgotten by the time the credits roll. The crew follow orders, try to resist the pirates, and that’s it. The pirates are predictable villains; yes, all they’re after is money. I can’t even remember a single character’s name, other than Captain Birdseye himself.  But one-dimensional characters are fine in a film focused on delivering pure thrills. It’s all very appropriate for the genre. The music is appropriate. The script is appropriate. The direction is appropriate, shaky-cam and all. It’s nothing special, but it gets the job done.

The film is paced well, for the most part. The opening scenes all build up to the hijack, which is a particularly exciting sequence. From there it never really takes a breather. Seeing the pirates constantly threaten Phillips gets a bit repetitive after a while, and makes the film drag a little. It does pick up in the final half hour, which was so intense that I suddenly found myself rather excited again, just as I was when the pirates were about to board the ship. The way the film closes is actually rather powerful, and will leave you satisfied.

If you have any interest in seeing Captain Phillips, you’re probably going to enjoy it. It does things by-the-numbers, but it does so rather well. The opportunity to tell a potentially great story was missed, as the real-life Captain Phillips seems like a more interesting person. But Tom Hanks gives it all he has, and the film we’re left with is good entertainment.