Everyone in life serves a purpose and that doesn’t necessarily have to be one that’s good or evil – it’s just a purpose; a reason of being, and everyone has their own paths that they have to take, given whichever location or walk of life they come from. A Captain’s purpose in life is to lead a vessel on a successful journey without any issues, but if some arise, they’re the first to protect the crew, the merchandise, and the integrity of their name without any discussions, fits or fuss. In this true story about Captain Richard Phillips (played by the legendary Tom Hanks), he is tested with a great deal of adversity because when you wander into unfriendly waters, you’re bound to come across the unfriendly characters that come with them. Hijacking and Piracy are ways of life, because for those less fortunate, they’re left with the choice of unbearable life or death without having anything to lose and you already know that the greatest fear is having to face someone with nothing to lose – they have more will and spirit than most. Muse (played by Barkhad Adbi) is a Captain in his own way who appeared small in stature, but his heart was bigger than what could be seen. In this movie, the wills of both captains were put on display as they both had to battle for reasons of validation.

This movie was intense, because of the sheer drama that occurred from start to finish. You have 2 characters from the opposite spectrum, but as the movie progressed and the interactions between the two came forth, you could see the shift in mental stability while running on limited patience for a delicate situation. When you have a crew that doesn’t understand or trust your decisions, it’s hard to win them over unless you’re faced with a situation that calls for the true leadership to come forth. What I liked about this movie was that the dramatics kept your emotions on high. Paul Greengrass (who infamously directed a couple of the Bourne movies) knows how to put on an action packed film, and action wasn’t generally the main premise of the movie – it was about one group seizing the opportunity to take advantage of a vulnerable ship.

What was important to note in the movie was that each Captain was willing to sacrifice themselves for the safety of their crews, which is what a captain is supposed to do; although at first it may come off as irrational thinking, being a Captain (even an everyday individual) requires making judgement calls off of initial instinct, and that’s what made it so dramatic (especially towards then end). When you know what your job requirement is, you also understand the risks that come with them – this movie was an example of what could go wrong on one of those days. This was a great movie and Tom Hanks, yet again, gives you more and more reasons why he’s one of the best to do it now, and over the past 20-30 years. The movie will tug at your emotions a lot, so keep alert, but most importantly – Enjoy. This is my opinion, this is my review

That’s My Word & It STiXX