Captain Phillips(ENG) Review

For starters this film is based on True Incident. This quite literally raised my expectation for the film. This kind of film will have that intriguing effect throughout the film which you will be hooked to.

The Film stars Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips, Barkhad Abdi as Muse a Somali pirate. These two are the prime characters in the film along with other sidekicks.

The plot of the movie is how a cargo ship with Captain Phillips in charge and his crew sets off on a journey from Oman to deliver its goods to Mombasa and they get attacked by pirates and how Captain Phillips finally manage to break free from the pirate. This is told in a gripping way with lot of emotions.

Tom Hanks as Captain Phillips has done a remarkable job. He literally transformed himself into Captain Phillips. Surely an Oscar nomination for him. The way he emotes when caught by Muse on taking him around the ship and his calmness when he is taken as hostage in a lifeboat by the pirates heaps more credits on the actor.  Barkhad Abdi as Muse the head of pirate has performed equally good on par with Tom Hanks. He literally underplayed his part and is so natural that you would think that he is a real pirate.

The tensions during negotiating the deal to release Hanks and the scenes where the US naval force kills the pirates are spectacular.

The camera work by Barry Ackroyd is simply superb and the slick editing by Christopher Rouse is perfect that you would be glued to the film till the very end.

The film could have been easily made a documentary type of film with the theme it carries but Thanks to The Director Paul Greengrass, this is film is edge of the seat ride. The heroism and bravery of Captain Phillips is shown in subtle way and no over the top scenes.

Verdict: This edge of the seat gripping brutal film should not be missed. It’s a Must watch!

Rating: 4/5

ARRAMBAM Review

This is an out and out pure unadulterated Ajith flick with Mass and Style. Vishnuvardhan’s film are known for their stylish film making and Arrambam is no exception.

Ajith looks dashing once again in his Salt n Pepper look and carries the film on his shoulders.  The screen presence if Ajith is huge. He commands all the scenes in which he appears. The best being the Lift scene.

Arya as a side kick(hacker) performs his role well.  The flash back scenes of Arya will be a laugh riot. Coming to Nayantara, she has a similar role she did in Billa. Beauty with brains kind of role. Tapsee is just about adequate and performs well in her limited role. The chemistry between her and Arya is superb.

Mahesh Manjrekar as home minister and Atul Kulkarni as Mumbai police head have done a good job especially Mahesh Manjrekar, he simply performs brilliantly. Kishore has a good role and as always did a splendid job.

First half is like a breeze.  The film opens up by Ajith planting bombs on 3 locations and making them to blast. From there the show begins. Super fast ride filled with many good moments involving all the lead characters. As I said the lift scene takes the cream in the first half. But In the second half the film loses some pace. Rana Daggubati extended cameo in the flash back was good. The flashback of Ajith reveals the story on why Ajith is carrying out his tasks. They could have avoided the preachy scene on corruption which we have watched N times on screen. That scene could have been handled better.

Coming to Music, Yuvan’s songs looks good on screen. His BGM’s adds value to the script. Overall a neat performance from him. Net best thing was Om Prakash’s camera work. Simply superb. All the characters look fab on every scene. The camera work during the car crash scene is just mind blowing and reveals the real talent of the cameraman. 

Finally coming to Director Vishnuvardhan. He takes the road he loves most. And performs his job to the tee. The dialogues could have been better and smart. Suba and Vishnuvardhan went a little weak in that department. But overall a job well done.

Positives: Ajith, without him this film would ve been a damp squib. Totally powerful performance. Edge of the seat screenplay for most parts as you will be hooked to what happens to all characters.  Camera work and costumes score big.

Negatives: Second half could have been better. The planning of the protagonist (Dubai scenes) as if he is the master and his enemy has no brains is a big let down.

Verdict: Everything said and done, this film is one of the best of Ajith. Go with an open mind you will enjoy the ride. After all its “Thala” Diwali!

Rating: 3.5/5!