Today's Double News: to tease or not to tease

Trailer season continues, as indicated by these two news flashes I posted on MS the other day:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152599/nieuwe_trailer_how_to_train_your_dragon_2

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152562/eerste_teaser_expendables_3

These two short previews differ enormously in their approach to entice their respective audiences, as illustrated by what they show, or rather, don't show. The vid for The Expendables 3 is as clearly a teaser if ever I saw one, making no use of actual material of the movie proper and telling us nothing about the film's plot. It's sole purpose is to reveal to the public that the movie for which it teases is currently underway, for those who were not aware from online or magazine sources. By now the 'Expendables' brand is itself a perfect indicator for what's in store and the main question on everyone's mind - at least, everyone that is interested in this project - is not so much what to expect but more so who to expect. The teaser acts on this anticipation by bombarding the spectator with names (last names only, since otherwise it would get a little too cramped on the screen): this information will have to suffice for now. In fact, the names are of greater importance than the men visually assembled for our entertainment, since even on the big screen it's hard to recognize them all in a window of only a few seconds. Personally I think the teaser would have benefited from the first names too, to avoid confusion as to which actor will participate in cases where that could be in doubt. For instance, the 'Gibson' here is Mel, not Tyrese. Of course Mel is more wellknown anyway, but Tyrese too has compiled a big enough resumé in action movies over recent years to warrant a place in a movie of this type (maybe for a third sequel then). Rest assured: 'Powell' is not Colin, it's Glen (whom I have never heard of before). Overall, an effective teaser with a cast of names to match. I'm looking forward to the appearance of Ford and Grammer too.

Now, How to Train Your Dragon 2 is another animal entirely. In fact, I daresay it shows too much, instead of the opposite like The Expendables 3 does. Not surprising we get to see more of the story and characters in this preview, considering this film has already passed the teaser stage (and tease it did) and the current Holiday season is perfect for getting people enthusiastic about family films due for release in the next six months. But after seeing this trailer I get the feeling there's little more to the story that what is presented here. I for one would have saved the identity of the mysterious female dragon rider, as well as half of the grandiose dragon shots, for the movie itself rather than taking away such surprises. But then, I haven't even seen the first HtTYD, so what the heck do I know... That said, this preview will certainly succeed adequately in piqueing the target audience's interests, especially since in this franchise's case too popularity has already been established. I hear the first film was quite good, even though the trailers failed to excite me. Maybe the same thing will happen here, since I'm not convinced yet, despite getting the feeling I already know what the movie is about. When a trailer gives you that feeling, you know it hasn't done its job properly, but since this film is geared mostly towards kids, that's not a total loss.

Today's Review: Walking with Dinosaurs 3D

Oh my! Look what movie I rated 2 out of 5 (or 4 out of 10) stars on MovieScene:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152438/walking_with_dinosaurs_3d_-_recensie

I really wanted to like this movie more than I could (since it's a dinosaur movie!), but it made it impossible to do so because it was so hugely disappointing. However, I was emotionally prepared for the disappointment by increasingly disturbing trailers and related marketing material that indicated the renowned BBC dinosaur documentary suffered from severe dumbing down under the shameless supervision of  the conservative 20th Century-Fox studio (do execs there even believe dinosaurs once existed for real, instead of only in the easily exploitable minds of innocent children?). So I knew the end result would not be to my liking, and it sadly proved to be true. This movie was just nothing like the original WWD series and everything like Disney's Dinosaur (but worse). Interestingly enough, it's the second 3D movie I reviewed this week that consists of a poor mix of drama and documentary, both featuring animals and using spectactular nature photography (WWD at least has made good use of fabulous landscapes, I'll grant them that). At least Amazonia didn't overly anthropomorphize its non-human protagonists, though in that film's case the addition of a narrative was also used to attract a younger audience.

So that's one new dinosaur film down the drain. I have better hope for Pixar's The Good Dinosaur and Jurassic World, but this certainly does not bode well for a dinosaur popularity revival. Says the guy who bought most of the new WWD action figures regardless. Hey, at least those don't talk, they roar, as dinosaurs ought to.

Today's Review: Amazonia 3D

Wrote another review for MovieScene a while back, it finally got published today:

http://www.moviescene.nl/p/152048/amazonia_-_recensie

A mixed bag, this film. The storialized aspect shouldn't be the main draw, that would be the spectacular wildlife photography, as is usual for documentaries. This movie isn't 100% documentary stuff though, which is probably a mistake, since the natural imagery would have been enough to make it worthwhile (both regular and in 3D), yet now you have a plot of sorts getting in the way of that to appeal to a younger audience. That said, I'm glad this movie didn't try to evade the issue at hand, namely the destruction of the rain forest and the loss of all its beauty (and dangers) for human short term greed. It takes a while for that issue to be addressed and the focus on that topic is rather brief but thoroughly effective, as the grim look of a demolished jungle is shocking for all ages, and hopefully succeeds in convincing all ages of the necessity of ending deforestation. Good message, but not perfect execution.

The Lost World Series 2: Ajay

Year of release: 1997-1998

Accessories:

-Heavy Strike Weapons Pack, including detachable missile launcher and two missiles

-Gun

-Parasaurolophus hatchling

Description: Ajay stands in a largely neutral pose, except for his right leg which is moved slightly forwards. He sports an almost military outfit, namely a light grey shirt with a black vest and dark grey straps over it, brown gloves, grey pants with light grey stripes in an asymmetrical pattern suggesting camouflage on them, and black boots. He also has a pair of black sunglasses on. He has absolutely no facial expression, a bald forehead, and black hair on the back of his head. He’s got some detailing on his pants, though it’s hardly noticeable because it’s coloured in the same grey as the pants themselves: on his left leg he’s got one pocket, while on his right leg he has a knife as well as some damage to his pants, indicating he’s had a near miss with some ferocious vermin.

Ajay comes with some impressive looking weaponry. First, he owns a small gun (I’m no expert on guns so don’t ask me what type of gun it is), coloured grey. It doesn’t do anything, it’s just an additional gadget. Second, he sports a large backpack, labelled a Heavy Strike Weapons Pack (I’ll abbreviate it to HSWP). It’s basically a pack carrying a missile launcher, enabling the user to keep his hands free to carry other stuff. The HSWP, sporting an entirely black paint job, looks pretty sophisticated and detailed, but works fairly simple. It can be pinned to Ajay’s back (he’s got a hole there for this purpose). The rocket launcher can move up and down, in about a 100 degree angle: it can also be detached to be used separately from the pack. The launcher comes with two different grey missiles (same colour as the gun), and can hold one of them at a time. The other can be stored in a hole in the pack when it’s not used: the hole also fits both missiles simultaneously. By pressing the button on top of the pack a missile is launched with a decent enough force, over a distance of about half a metre. Interesting little detail, the gun can be pinned on a pin on the right end of the launcher.

Ajay’s reptilian companion is a Parasaurolophus hatchling, according to the package. However, it misses Parasaurolophus’ most recognizable attribute: the horn on his head. Instead, this creature sports a crest. This hatchling stands in an active pose, looking over its shoulder and its left arm raised, while in a walking posture. It is painted beige for the most part, and sports a large yellow stripe all the way from the snout to the end of the tail, also running over the top of the crest. The sides of the crest are coloured bright red. The dinosaur has small black eyes, as well as a black JP: Site B logo on its left upper leg.

Analysis: though this is quite a fun figure, it’s a bit over the top. Ajay himself looks almost nothing like the Ajay seen in the movie, except for the head sculpt. He’s way more muscular and looks more like a special forces commando than a game scout. However, if you leave realism aside this is a pretty butch figure with a good paint job, though it’s a shame the knife and damage to his pants aren’t painted in a different colour. He would have looked more badass with skin or blood underneath the torn parts of his trousers.

His accessories establish him to be a character not to be messed with. His gun, though pretty monochromatic and lacking some detail, makes him look dangerous. The same goes for the HSWP, though this too looks a bit unrealistic, but it works fine. It can be pinned to Ajay’s back easily and fights tightly so it doesn’t fall off (unlike with Nick van Owen’s Catcher Pack for example). The launcher can be posed in various angles and can even be detached from the pack, increasing flexibility and playability of the pack. The missile firing mechanism works perfectly, though the impact force isn’t too great. It’s sure to knock over hatchlings like the Para, but has a harder time doing damage to bigger targets. The storage hole on the back of the pack is a handy detail, though when there’s only one missile in there, it hangs a bit loose. It’s a nice little detail to see the gun can be attached to the pack as well, though it doesn’t really seem to have a purpose.

The hatchling is the only real disappointment of this set. It sports a boring paint job and stands in an awkward pose. Also, it doesn’t look like a Parasaurolophus at all, but rather a different species of Hadrosaur. It also has trouble standing on its feet.

Playability: good for the most part. Ajay has no action features himself, like his fellow Evil Hunters Peter Ludlow and Dieter Stark, but has the usual range of poseable body parts. The HSWP provides for the action of this set. The storage for the missiles and the capability of detachment of the launcher make for greater playability. The launcher itself works fine as well. Like other hatchlings, the Parasaurolophus has no poseable body parts, while its annoying stance further diminishes playability options.

Realism: not much. Ajay (his last name being Sidhu by the way, though the card doesn’t mention this) looks very different from the Ajay character in the movie (played by Harvey Jason), both in body shape and choice of clothing. The head sculpt resembles the movie character somewhat, though in the film he wore regular glasses, not sunglasses. Additionally, he didn’t sport a gun like this, nor a HSWP or any other missile launchers (which weren’t featured in the TLW movie anyway).

Like stated above, the Parasaurolophus doesn’t resemble a real Para or its movie counterpart much. Though the body isn’t far off, and even the paint job is somewhat reminiscent of the paint job of the Para seen in the movie and the TLWS1 Parasaurolophus figure (though simplified and less detailed), it’s the head that’s totally wrong. This figure sports a crest instead of Para’s iconic “horn” (probably used for communication and mating rituals). This hatchling looks more like a Corythosaurus, a related Hadrosaur that did indeed have a crest, though shaped somewhat differently. Incidentally, Corythosaurs were seen in JP III, in a herd that also included Parasaurolophus. But that particular detail doesn’t make this figure more accurate.

Repaint: no. The hatchling would not be repainted either. However, Ajay’s body would be repainted two times for the first JP Dinosaurs line, once as a Dinosaur Trainer (for the Pachycephalosaurus with Dinosaur Trainer set, including a repaint of the HSWP and the gun) as well as a Dinosaur Hunter (for the Stegosaurus with Dinosaur Hunter set). In both cases, the figure would sport a different head sculpt. Ajay’s own head would not be featured in later toy lines, repainted or otherwise.

Overall rating: 8/10. Ajay himself is a badass figure, never mind realism. The HSWP is a fun new weapon and works fine, and the gun is a neat little extra gadget. The hatchling is a bit of a failure though. Unfortunately, this figure is rare and not easy to find. Be prepared to deal with higher than usual prices when you encounter it. However, it’s worth it, if you can stand lousy hatchlings and are also interested in human figures.

The Lost World Series 2: Nick van Owen

Year of release: 1997-1998

Accessories:

-Two pieces of capture gear

-Catcher Pack

-Camera

-Brachiosaurus hatchling

Description: this Nick van Owen figure stands in a somewhat more active posture than his TLWS1 predecessor. He stands with his left leg moved backward and his right leg forward, while his left hand is closed in a fist. Nick’s arms look pretty muscular, especially his upper arms. Though it’s a matter of millimetres, this figure is one of the tallest figures of all JP toy lines.

Nick sports a blue shirt, covered with a grey vest adorned with a total of four pockets. A belt runs over his torso, orange on the front part of the figure, and black on the other side. Nick wears green pants, covered with several pockets of the same colour. Additionally, he has a black belt around his waist and two smaller black belts around each lower leg with additional pockets, probably used for carrying video cassettes or other equipment for Nick’s camera. Van Owen sports rather odd shoes, coloured orange with a silver metal frame around it, as if they’re enhanced for use in rough terrain. Unlike the TLWS1 Nick, this figure sports brown hair, including his eyebrows.

Nick comes with various pieces of equipment. First, being a documentary film maker, he has a large black camera, which can rest on his right shoulder while he holds it with his right hand (his other hand can’t hold anything). The camera looks more realistic than the camera the TLWS1 Nick came with (if that was indeed a camera). There’s a hole in the camera, so you can look right through it, seeing what the camera is “filming”. A second tool Nick comes with is the catcher pack: this odd looking metallic grey device can be attached around the figure’s waist so he can carry it. It looks pretty sophisticated with its elaborate mechanical detailing, but it doesn’t really have any action figures unlike one would expect. However, there’s a small box on top of the device that can be opened: it reveals what appears to be a piece of meat, coloured brown with a small white bone sticking out of it. Being a vegetarian I won’t try to classify it, because I’m bound to get it wrong. It seems the catcher pack is just a method of luring dinosaurs towards Nick, so he can film them, and if necessary, catch them. Given the fact that this figure also comes with two small pieces of capture gear (namely the typical “handcuffs” many sets of capture gear have featured since the JPS2 toy line), the latter option seems a logical course of action.

Strangely enough, Nick comes with a herbivorous hatchling, so it seems odd it would be attracted to the catcher pack’s meat. The hatchling is labelled a Brachiosaurus, though it looks a lot different than the JPS1/2 Brachiosaurus hatchlings or the Sauropods seen in the first JP movie. The hatchling measures some seven centimetres in length, and sports a light brown paint job, adorned with purple spots on its snout, neck, back and tail. It has small black eyes and a beige JP: Site B logo on its left hind leg. Most notable, it has very plump thick legs, making it seems rather disproportionate and even a bit silly.

Analysis: this third Nick van Owen figure (next to the TLWS1 Nick and the exclusive High Hide Nick) isn’t much of an improvement and has some pros and cons. The pros are found mostly in Nick himself. Though it’s not identical to the garment Vince Vaughn wore in the TLW movie, this figure’s clothes, including their paint job, are more similar than the outfits of the other Van Owen figures. This excludes the shoes, since they’re really quite strange and I’m positive they weren’t featured in the film.

It’s obvious the designers of this figure wanted to establish Nick’s status as a film maker more clearly, something the other Nick figures lacked. Nick comes with a relatively realistic camera (by toy standards of course), as well as loads of pockets for carrying video equipment, most notably the ones on his legs. Though the camera doesn’t provide for any action, which can be said for the entire figure by the way, it’s a fun gadget.

The same cannot be said for the catcher pack, which is plain boring. It looks way more elaborate and detailed than is necessary, considering it doesn’t do anything at all. The only option it features is the small box with the meat in it, but having designed a smaller piece of equipment carrying only this box would have sufficed. Now Nick is forced to wear this large piece of plastic on his back, and given the fact it hangs pretty loose and occasionally even falls off because it’s out of balance when attached to the figure, it’s downright annoying.

The Brachiosaurus is quite cute, but doesn’t look much like a Brachiosaurus at all. Though its large legs make sure the little beast doesn’t fall down, and also make it hard to knock over using missile launchers of other figures, they make the poor creature look very weird. The paint job isn’t bad, though like with most hatchlings it’s lacking detail. The two pieces of capture gear can be attached to the Sauropod’s legs and body, though it’s doubtful they would restrain it in real life.

Playability: not very high. Though Nick has poseable arms, legs and head, it’s quite vexing he can’t hold stuff with his left hand since it’s closed to a fist. Like stated above, the catcher pack doesn’t provide for much action at all. The same is true for the camera, though it does give Nick more character and looks pretty butch on his shoulder. The Brachiosaurus doesn’t have any poseable body parts, like all the other TLW hatchling figures.

Realism: the figure’s head sculpt looks a lot like Vince Vaughn’s head, though less detailed (it’s a toy version of him after all). However, this figure makes Van Owen appear more muscular than he looked in the movie. His clothes are not that different from the outfit Nick sported in the movie, though they’re not an exact copy. Since Nick was established to be a documentary film maker in the movie, it’s nice to finally see him running around with a real camera. The catcher pack was never seen in the movie, which isn’t a great loss.

There were no Brachiosaurs in the TLW movie, though they did appear in the first JP and eventually also JP III. In neither film did they resemble this particular Sauropod. For one thing, they had thinner legs, a shorter tail and a different colour pattern. Also, their heads looked a lot different from this one’s, with a large bump on the forehead carrying the nostrils. This Brachiosaurus looks more like a Diplodocus, judging from the shape of its head. But due to the disproportionately large legs, it looks even more like a made up dinosaur.

Repaint: no. This figure, as well as all its accessories, would not be repainted for later toy lines either.

Overall rating: 6/10. Though the figure itself is quite good, the catcher pack and the hatchling aren’t very appealing. They just don’t look interesting, nor do they provide for any action features. Additionally, this sculpt is one of the rarest of all JP figures and as such is quite hard to find, usually fetching the big bucks. Be sure you really want one before you spent too much cash on it, because it may not prove to be worth it.

The Lost World Series 2: Eddie Carr

Year of release: 1997-1998

Accessories:

-Tranq Bazooka

-Two missiles

-Backpack

-Tyrannosaurus hatchling

Description: this second Eddie Carr figure of the TLW toy lines stands in a totally neutral position. He wears an orange jumpsuit, with grey camouflage spots mixed in on the legs and torso, and a scaly shiny blue shirt underneath. On the left part of his chest he sports a yellow badge with the JP Site B logo. His pants carry several pockets and an odd TV-screen like ornamentation (a knee patch maybe? If so, why doesn't he have one on the other knee too?). He sports black boots, a shiny blue glove on his right hand (his left hand is exposed), a big blue arm patch over his left lower arm, and a small walkie-talkie on his back. Like the TLWS1 Eddie Carr figure, he comes with a cowboy hat, this time light grey with a brown band on it. He has black eyes and eyebrows and brown hair.

Eddie comes with a large bazooka, basically a black tube with a small box at the end and a big one up front. There's a small pin on the bottom of the big box up front, so Eddie can more easily hold this weapon. On top of the gun near the front end there’s a large red button. When the bazooka is loaded with either one of the two red missiles it comes with, pressing the button makes the missile be fired with force, with a firing range of almost two metres and a good impact force. It’s one of the more effective and powerful weapons Kenner ever produced. This set also features a black backpack with black straps so Eddie can carry it on his back. The pack has two holes in it, one for each missile.

The T-Rex hatchling is a cute little critter with large black eyes, standing tall on its legs. It stands in a walking position, left leg posed forward and right leg posed backward, with its head slightly positioned to the right as if something is attracting its attention. It’s coloured in a bright red paint job, with a large black stripe running from its snout all the way to the end of the tail, and with smaller black stripes running out of the bigger one. It has a white JP Site B logo on its right upper leg. It also has a bandage on its lower right leg, hardly noticeable because it’s coloured in the same red colour as the rest of the sculpt.

Analysis: despite being killed halfway through the movie, Eddie Carr is back in a second incarnation, wearing Urban Assault Gear, ready to take on nasty predators running loose in the big city. As such, he's sporting a very different, more elaborate outfit than his TLWS1 predecessor did. It seems to be a dinosaur-resisting suit, much more heavy and bulky in stature as the simpler gear the other Eddie figure wore, but still a neat design (and despite the obvious usefulness of some sort of protective helmet, still sporting Eddie's cowboy hat), albeit asymmetric (why not a big red arm patch on the right arm as well? Or a second knee patch?). Despite its odd looks, it's obvious Eddie is ready for close combat, with an effective weapon to match.

The best part of this set comes from the formidable bazooka. It works very well and has a great firing range for such a small weapon. It easily knocks over hatchlings, human figures and most smaller dinosaurs and even bigger ones (it partially depends on whether the targeted creatures are bipedal or not). It comes with two different missiles, so you have a choice, as well as a spare because with a range like this missiles tend to get lost. Both missiles can be stored in the backpack so you don’t have to let one of them lie loose when the other is loaded in the gun. Eddie's right arm is definitely the one to use for this weapon, since the big arm patch on his left arm gets in the way of positioning the weapon. Slight modifications have been made to this weapon for this TLWS2 figure, since it is a retooled version of the bazooka that originally came with JPS1 Robert Muldoon and was designed specifically for that figure, so few other figures could hold it (see the 'Repaint' section below). The retooling allows more figures to be capable of carrying it. Retooling not withstanding, this bazooka is still one of the best and most powerful weapons of all the JP toy lines.

The Rex hatchling is quite good, but has some minor balance issues. It falls down easily, which does make it a very good target for the bazooka, since that weapon is capable of knocking this little dinosaur over good and slinging it away a fair distance. The Rex's paint job isn’t very appealing and could have used some more work: it’s especially disappointing the bandage on its leg isn’t painted in a different colour, because it’s hard to spot the animal has a bandage there at all. Other than that, the Rex looks cute and cuddly, and is one of the more loveable hatchling figures made by Kenner.

Playability: just fine. Eddie has the usual poseable body parts, namely, head, legs and arms. The bazooka is an excellent weapon with a great firing range and a powerful impact force for such a small weapon. The new pin on its underside makes it compatible with more figures than it was originally designed for. Since there's two missiles, there's a back-up if you loose one, and to keep you from losing them you can store them in the backpack. The little T-Rex has no poseability of any kind.

Realism: 'Urban Assault Gear' would have been handy fighting the escaped Rex in the Lost World movie, but such an outfit, let alone a bazooka, was not featured in the actual film. More importantly, Eddie Carr was already dead in that part of the film, so he seems an unlikely choice to fight dinosaurs in an urban environment. Moreover, this figure doesn't resemble Eddie Carr at all, he looks more like a made-up character on Kenner's part. The Rex hatchling is quite accurate for hatchling standards, aside from the red paint job. It's not as close a match to the little Rex seen in the TLW movie as the TLWS1 Junior T-Rex figure, but comes close enough, right down to the (unpainted) bandages around its right leg.

Repaint: yes, this set is all repaints. Eddie himself has a repainted version of the body of JPS2 Alan Grant (Bola version)(which would also be repainted for the TLW Exclusive Dino Tracker Adventure Set), while his head sculpt comes from the TLWS1 Eddie Carr figure (so there is consistency in that regard). The Rex hatchling is a repaint of the baby Rex from TLWS1 Ian Malcolm. The bazooka, along with both missiles and the backpack, is a retooled and repainted version of the same weapon that originally came with JPS1/2 Robert Muldoon (this weapon, though not retooled or repainted, would also be featured in the TLW Exclusive Young T-Rex set). The differences between the original bazooka and this retooled TLWS2 version are:

-the little pin on its underside, allowing more figures to handle it;

-no hole at the back end of the bazooka;

-a slightly different paint job, still black with red highlights, but different, lighter hues of black and red. The missiles are also painted in a slightly different shade of red than the originals. The backpack remains unaltered though, and is simply a reuse. Despite the minor differences, the bazooka is effective as ever.

Overall rating: 6/10. So it's all nothing new really, but the figure got a pretty decent new paint job, the bazooka is still a kick-ass weapon and the hatchling is cute as ever. If you don't mind repaints, you might want to track this set down, though being part of the infamous TLWS2 toy line it's not the easiest set to get, having only had a limited release in the USA, and virtually no release in other territories. That said, this is probably the most common set of the TLWS2 toy line, so it's at least less hard to find than the other figures of this toy line.

Today's Mini-Review: Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips: ****/*****, or 7/10

2013 witnessed the release (in the Netherlands at least) of two very different films based on the exact same theme, ship hijacking (both reportedly based on true events, but not the same events). One was the excellent Danish production Kapringen which for a moment largely seemed to revolve on the reuniting of the cast and crew of Borgen but instead proved a psychological horror propelled by the sheer inadequacy of the ship's company to successfully negotiate terms with the Somali pirates for the release of the ship and its hostages. It kept the film devoid of true action for most of the film and caused the movie to keep its audience waiting endlessly for something to happen, which aptly illustrated the reality that such hostage situations usualy result in a deadlock that leads to months of uncertainty for victims, perpetrators and families alike. And when all seemed resolved, Kapringen still ended on a shocking note of unexpected, needless violence to top the agony that came before. Paul Greengrass takes a whole different approach to hijacking in his more action packed yet equally chilling Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks as the titular character. Commanding a large freighter and sailing it around the Horn of Africa, Phillips too is confronted by armed marauders out for money by seizing commercial maritime traffic and privateering its personnel in exchange for cash. Whereas that other famous American Tom (whose last name also inspires the thought of boats, though that fun fact is totally irrelevant here) plays the occasional everyman and always fails miserably because of his star status, Hanks yet again proves up for said job despite his own famous persona and portrays a stern but decent regular working Joe, insightful as to his situation and not afraid to back down when his opponent bests him and assumes command of his vessel. The lives of his crew come first, his own by comparison he considers dispensable. Money is the brigands' objective, not mayhem for mayhem's sake, but there are no negotiations with the ship's company. While the situation grows ever more tense and a happy end seems less and less likely to transpire, Phillips plays an increasingly dangerous game of cat-and-mouse with his captors that seems only to be able to end in his own unfortunate demise.

Greengrass (of Bloody Sunday and Bourne fame, while also responsible for another factual hijacking of a wholly different kind with United 93) applies his signature handheld 'shaky cam' style to great effect to get up close and personal with both Phillips and the bad guys (and to make spectators with poor stomachs seasick for sure) which delivers both visceral action and intense emotional drama. And though the movie ultimately proceeds into a fairly typical 'good guys versus bad guys' conflict, he inspires more than the slightest bit of sympathy for the perps, who are portrayed alarmingly accurate as people devoid of options. When you spend your life living in excruciating poverty in a rural area that supports no other means of employment or even food than the job of fisherman, and when western fisheries cut deals with your corrupt government to catch all your fish, what else is there to do than to go out to sea and commandeer foreign vessels in the hopes of ransoming their passengers? Somali pirates are desperate people who have no other means of sustaining themselves, Greengrass effectively reveals. The lead pirate, a skinny, intelligent young man (tremendously compelling performance by first time actor Barkhad Abdi, who commendably holds his own next to Hanks) is shown to be a man forced by circumstance to do things he needs to do to survive, but he definitely never enjoys doing them for a second. Both he and Phillips try to contain their crew from letting the explosive situation degenerate into bloodshed, something the pirate surprisingly succeeds in more so than Phillips does, as his crew attempts to regain control of their boat on multiple occasions without his say, further endangering all their lives. When the anti-piracy units of the American Navy arrive, the pirates are forced to make a quick exit in a lifeboat, and drag Phillips along with them as a human shield. It seems obvious that things can only end badly, but the movie delivers a forcibly happy end (of sorts) that does feel bitter for all present parties regardless. Captain Phillips is one-third action, one-third suspense and one-third human drama, but more straightforward in style (it's still Hollywood material after all) than its Danish predecessor, yet making for a fine companion piece to that film in showing a very different way these hostage negotiations tend to conclude.