Reviews for this film from our members:
- Marco Albanese @ Stanze di Cinema [Italian]
- Excerpt: E invece Captain Phillips è sorprendente e riuscito, tanto più quando Greengrass rinuncia sostanzialmente al movimento fisico ed all’azione e rinchiude i suoi protagonisti in un piccola scialuppa di salvataggio, in mezzo all’oceano.
- Dragan Antulov @ Draxblog VI [Croatian]
- Rick Aragon @ Rick’s Cafe Texan
- Edwin Arnaudin @ Ashvegas
- Excerpt: Thanks to the concerted effort by cast and crew, Phillips’ crucible vicariously becomes the viewer’s own. Cinematically placed in his predicament, the eventual exhaustion and shock from the trauma is mutual.
- Jason Bailey @ Flavorwire
- Excerpt: It seems strange to say that an actor as awarded and acclaimed as Tom Hanks is still capable of surprising us. But he does in ‘Captain Phillips,’ which is one of the best films of the year.
- Luke Bonanno @ DVDizzy.com
- Excerpt: Greengrass’ knack for gripping action is on fine display and the entire conflict feels about as well-researched as his 9/11 film was. The stakes aren’t as high, the wounds aren’t so large, and the story isn’t as familiar as the one told in United 93, giving this film less weight but greater unpredictability.
- Enrique Buchichio @ Cartelera.com.uy [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Paul Greengrass confirma que es un buen narrador, sobre todo desde el punto de vista físico. Tom Hanks, en tanto, ofrece uno de los trabajos más exigentes de los últimos años.
- Daniel Carlson @ Pajiba
- Samuel Castro @ Ochoymedio.info [Spanish]
- Excerpt: Tom Hanks muestra todo lo que todavía es capaz de hacer con la ayuda del estilo realista de Paul Greengrass
- Bill Clark @ From The Balcony
- Laura Clifford @ Reeling Reviews
- Excerpt: It’s a good, often thoughtful film boasting a compassionate performance from Tom Hanks and a breakout one from Abdi, but despite its tense real life events, “Captain Phillips'” impact is late breaking.
- Tony Dayoub @ Cinema Viewfinder
- Excerpt: …another in a long line of films celebrating the ingenuity of a lone, sophisticated Westerner against terrifyingly primitive, dark-skinned interlopers.
- Carlos del Río @ El rincón de Carlos del Río [Spanish]
- Excerpt: A “Capitán Phillips” le pasa lo que le pasaba a “United 93”: Paul Greengrass quiere sostener un largometraje con personajes que no conoces ni te importan, estirando una situación de tensión y recurriendo al estilo documental.
- Jim Dixon @ Examiner.com
- Excerpt: Greengrass and screenwriter Billy Ray (“Flightplan,” “The Hunger Games”) clearly have some sympathy for their pirates, who are, after all, only the last link in a chain of warlords and criminal middlemen who all stand to make more money than the boys on the boats, desperate former fishermen who take most of the risks. This attitude is not likely to be shared by the audience, likely waiting for a big action scene with the SEALs which ultimately delivers less than expected. After all, how sympathetic can you feel towards someone who’s pointing a gun at Tom Hanks?
- Billy Donnelly @ This Is Infamous
- Mark Dujsik @ Mark Reviews Movies
- Excerpt: The film … tells a story of courage but not in broad, idealistic strokes.
- João Marcos Flores @ Cineviews
- Candice Frederick @ Reel Talk
- Kenji Fujishima @ The House Next Door
- John Gilpatrick @ John Likes Movies
- Excerpt: Hanks hasn’t been this good in 20 years, and Greengrass’ approach feels revitalized with real people and their beating hearts driving the action.
- Susan Granger @ www.susangranger.com
- Excerpt: A tense, relentless, edge-of-your-seat action thriller, anchored by Tom Hanks’ authentic, subtly nuanced Everyman performance.
- Vadym Grygoriev @ kinoblog.com [Ukrainian]
- Mark Hobin @ Fast Film Reviews
- Excerpt: As far as I’m concerned, every heart-pounding adventure constructed from a horrifying true incident should be offered to Paul Greengrass first. If he passes, then open the field to other directors.
- Travis Hopson @ Punch Drunk Critics
- Excerpt: A heart-rending, intimate look at desperate men forced into a drastic situation beyond their control.
- Jeremy Kibler @ The Artful Critic
- Excerpt: Resolutely credible, intensely rattling and often exhaustingly tense, “Captain Phillips” resists Hollywood embellishment for the sake of straightforward storytelling.
- Oktay Ege Kozak @ Oregon Herald
- Benjamin Kramer @ The Voracious Filmgoer
- Kristin Dreyer Kramer @ NightsAndWeekends.com
- [New – 5/1/14] | Donald Levit @ ReelTalk Movie Reviews
- Mathieu Li-Goyette @ Panorama-cinéma [French]
- Glenn Lovell @ CinemaDope.com
- Excerpt: Captain Phillips, in the end, is splattered with blood and at loss for words … a fascinating metaphorical comment on Third World imperialism?
- Marty Mapes @ Movie Habit
- Excerpt: Harrowing hijacking puts you through the wringer
- Piers Marchant @ Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
- Mike McGranaghan @ The Aisle Seat
- Matthew McKernan @ FilmWhinge
- Excerpt: Captain Phillips is a welcome return to non-fiction, a powerful, suspenseful thriller that is all the more riveting for having something to say about a real world problem.
- Jason McKiernan @ Film Racket
- Excerpt: Captain Phillips, more often than not, is content to simply let its story play out without much nuance or subtext.
- Ross Miller @ Thoughts On Film
- Excerpt: Paul Greengrass’ skill as a director is in taking this terrible true story and making it cinematic without it being exploitative (something United 93 also did very effectively), while still retaining the sense of scary realism that makes it so compelling.
- Nell Minow @ The Movie Mom
- Simon Miraudo @ Quickflix
- Darren Mooney @ the m0vie blog
- Excerpt: All at sea…
- Pat Mullen @ Cinemablographer
- R. Kurt Osenlund @ Slant Magazine
- Jason Pirodsky @ Expats.cz
- Excerpt: A fascinating true story, and a fascinating film to match it. Captain Phillips is a riveting thriller that might get overlooked come awards season due to its genre, but make no mistake: this is one of the year’s best films.
- Jamie S. Rich @ DVD Talk
- Excerpt: Had this been a more conventional movie, the aftermath of the kidnapping would have been all about backslapping and congratulations. Instead, Captain Phillips shows us the toll of trauma and what we really should expect once the adrenalin wears off.
- Jerry Roberts @ Armchair Cinema
- Excerpt: Greengrass trumps any fantasy notion you have about pirates.
- Tom Santilli @ Examiner.com
- Amir Siregar @ Amir at the Movies [Indonesian]
- Cole Smithey @ ColeSmithey.com
- Excerpt: Regardless of the audience’s political opinions regarding the underlying justifications of the Somali pirates (fishermen who overtake ships carrying millions of dollars worth of goods after illicit dumping of toxic waste along the Somali coast by Western corporations destroyed the fishing industry), “Captain Phillips” provides a clear viewpoint on human despair and the outlandish lengths to which the U.S. military goes in order to rescue just one man.
- Josh Spiegel @ Sound on Sight
- Excerpt: Though Captain Phillips is not his most complex film or character, Tom Hanks fits the role and film perfectly, laying himself bare by the stunning final moments.
- Frank Swietek @ One Guys Opinion
- Excerpt: A potent piece of fact-based drama.
