Max Martini | Cinema Parrot Disco

Captain Phillips (2013)

Directed by Paul Greengrass

Starring:
Tom Hanks
Barkhad Abdi
Catherine Keener
Michael Chernus
David Warshofsky
Corey Johnson
Chris Mulkey
Yul Vazquez
Max Martini
Omar Berdouni

Running time: 134 minutes

Plot Synopsis: (via Wikipedia)
Captain Phillips is based on the true story of 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking, an incident during which merchant mariner Captain Richard Phillips was taken hostage by pirates in the Indian Ocean led by Abduwali Muse. The screenplay was written by Billy Ray, and is based on the 2010 book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips with Stephan Talty.

My Opinion:

Here’s a quickie! I watched this the other night after going to the cinema to watch Her. Trying to squeeze in as many Oscar nominated films as I can before Sunday night! I’ve managed to watch all the best picture nominees now other than 12 Years A Slave, Philomena, and Nebraska. Oh well – I tried! I’m sure 12 Years A Slave will win the majority but… I just couldn’t make myself watch it. Captain Phillips was bad enough – I’m not good with tragic true story types of films. Really not a genre I tend to go for & I fully admit I prefer fiction & escapism when it comes to movies. Probably why I love sci-fi…

Captain Phillips is a solid enough film for its genre. Tom Hanks is great as always. Who doesn’t love Tom Hanks, nicest guy in Hollywood?? Those pirates were so MEAN & I was like “leave Tom Hanks alone!”. Okay – I know this happened to a real guy so I’m not making light of that it’s just that, the ONLY problem I have with Hanks (and I do love the guy), is that I really see him only as Tom Hanks in every role he plays. Even in this where he’s putting on an accent. He’s an excellent actor but he’s just… Tom Hanks! Lovely guy! He’s like everyone’s favorite dad. So I really didn’t like seeing him upset & getting beat up!

As for the movie – Well, I can’t exactly say I “enjoyed” it. It’s well made & all that. It started out very strong but the ending felt like nothing but shouting and more shouting and the pirates doing idiotic things and MORE shouting. It was intense but I was tired and all that shouting started to really get on my nerves. But, I suppose it was probably realistic to the true story. Barkhad Abdi is good (although I’m not sure the performance is Oscar worthy). I really did feel for Hanks’ character more than anything. What a horrible ordeal. The film seemed to end a bit abruptly but I suppose it’s good that it didn’t attempt some “Hollywood” ending. Overall, it’s a good film. It’s just not really my type of genre. Sorry… It’s not bad! I do recommend it if it IS the sort of movie you tend to go for. Hanks is the definite highlight of the film.

My Rating: 6.5/10

Pacific Rim

Directed by Guillermo del Toro

Starring:
Charlie Hunnam
Idris Elba
Rinko Kikuchi
Charlie Day
Robert Kazinsky
Max Martini
Ron Perlman
Burn Gorman
Clifton Collins Jr

Running time: 132 minutes

Plot Synopsis (via Wikipedia):

The film is set in the 2020s, when Earth is under attack by Kaiju, colossal monsters which have emerged from a portal on the ocean floor. To combat the monsters, humanity unites to create the Jaegers: gigantic humanoid mecha, each controlled by two pilots whose minds are joined by a neural bridge.

My Opinion:

THIS is what I expect of a summer blockbuster. There are cool monsters (they even GLOW!), big funky robots, lots & lots of action, characters who are cliché as hell including generically attractive leads, and a story that’s totally predictable every step of the way. Turn off your brain, munch your popcorn, and just have fun. I really enjoyed this film as I got exactly what I was expecting.

This movie is all about the action so I’m not going to go into any of that. All of that is really good and thoroughly entertaining. Instead, I’ll discuss the characters in the film a little bit.

There aren’t going to be any Oscars handed out to anyone in this. But who cares? The main guy, Charlie Hunnam, really can’t get any more generically attractive. The good news is that he takes his shirt off a couple of times. The bad news is that those couple of shirtless moments are fairly brief and he’s otherwise always fully clothed. His storyline starts out OH SO PREDICTABLE and ends that way as well. As does the storyline of, well, absolutely everyone in this. Again, though – who cares? We’re all going to this to see monsters & robots! 🙂

The other characters of note are:

– Idris Elba as the dude in charge of the Jaegers & their pilots. He was just right for the role and probably put in the most effort acting-wise.

– Rinko Kikuchi as “the girl”. Another very predictable storyline here but it was a decent enough story. And we see her as a little girl too and she’s adorable.

– The scientists (Charlie Day & Burn Gorman). You’ll probably love these guys or you’ll hate them. Predictably quirky & nerdy – they’re always competing with each other in trying to figure out the best way to save the world from the Kaiju. They’re the “comic relief” but you’ll probably be rolling your eyes at some of their antics.

– The other Jaeger pilots. There are a few other “teams” but the one focused on the most is a father & son (the son is the generically attractive “prick” these types of blockbusters call for). Again – their storyline is predictable but I liked it fine.

– Ron Perlman as the “lunatic”. I think his role is meant to be a bit of a surprise so I won’t say exactly who he is but he’ll be a favorite character, I would think, for anyone who is a Ron Perlman fan. He’s also in it to provide a bit of comic relief but I really couldn’t decide if I liked his character or not. It felt a bit too silly to me.

Summary:

I know I’ve not said much about this film but there’s really no point. You won’t exactly increase your IQ by watching it but you WILL enjoy yourself. This movie does exactly what it sets out to do: keeps you entertained without requiring you to put much effort into “thinking”. And that’s fine when you’re expecting it – I have no issue with the braindead action in this whereas in something like Man Of Steel it annoyed me as I expected a film like that to be a little “smarter” and not have SUCH excessive action for such a large chunk of the film. And while I didn’t expect anything other than the cliché characters and predictable storylines, it does keep Pacific Rim from becoming something MORE than just “this year’s” big summer blockbuster. Plenty of other past summer blockbusters are now what I’d consider all-time favorites and, unfortunately, I don’t think Pacific Rim quite manages to make itself an all-time classic in this category. But I do recommend it, especially on a nice big cinema screen.

My Rating: 7.5/10

Scene after credits?: Yes, there is a scene partway through the credits that you’ll probably want to stay for. There’s not a scene after the credits but there is a dedication to Ray Harryhausen & Ishiro Honda and the sound of a Kaiju roar.

Also, there has been talk of a Pacific Rim sequel! SPOILER if you haven’t yet seen the film:

The sequel, Pacific Rim 2: Electric Boogaloo, will focus on the Kaiju and the dance show they organize in an attempt to raise enough money for a new portal.