Captain Phillips

Captain Philips was another movie which probably had been waiting to see until last Fri. I was no exempt so we enjoyed it last night and happily it not only was not disappointing but also very exciting and interesting. I would definitely say that it was better than the movie we saw last week, Gravity, although they fall under two complete genre. 

Tom Hanks presents a very good performance but better than him are the African guys who play the role of Somali pirates. They are with no doubt tremendous. I really feel bad for real Somali people and these piracy thing which has been part of the news in the past few years. No one ever points to this fact the real reason why the Somali people turn to piracy is what has happened to them by Europeans and Westerners in generals in the past two decades. Their fishery has been ruined by the industrial garbage dumped in their shores and civil war has tron their country apart, the one that Americans had to run from with shame. 

One interesting thing apart from the movie is the lawsuit which was lunched by half of the crew of Maersk Alabama, the ship that Captain Richard Phillips was navigating shortly before the making of the movie started. The crew allege the captain and the operators of ignoring the warning about the Somali pirates. According the lawsuit the ship must have had kept a 600 miles distance from Somali coast to be sure that no skiff could reach them but most likely because of the distance, time, fuel and wages they could save, the warning was ignored. They got close enough to the dangerous waters and got boarded by the African men armed with AK-47. The rest is shown in the movie. They say unlike the movie Phillips was no hero. Good movie with lots of unpredictable scenes and excitement and a must-see. The only part that I knew what would happen was when the Seals were towing the life-bout and were ready for the green light to shoot the three Somalis. Poor guys! A possible 4 out of 5. 

(Photo: This map shows the route that Maersk Alabama took and put it in the hands of the Somalis and the safe line which is claimed by the complainants should have been considered. The difference is not negligible)