Paul Greengrass' shaky-cam laden ode to the tragedy that was the Maersk Alabama incident in 2009 was notable for its even-handed portrayal of the Somalian pirates who were responsible for the hijacking. It would have been easy to make this movie as a real-life Die Hard, with the charismatic Tom Hanks leading a rag-tag team of shippers away from intrusive pirates, but that's not what Captain Phillips is. Najee, played by Faysal Ahmed, is perhaps the most antagonistic pirate in the group. Unlike Abduwali Muse, played with remarkable depth by Barkhad Abdi, Najee doesn't seem like a good person caught in a bad situation. He is shown to use drugs, be the most violent, and he loudly suggests that the group of pirates should kill Phillips. But despite all of the things he does wrong, he is still a human being. Scared, aggressive, and angry, he takes over as the leader when Muse leaves the group, but his essential humanity shines through. His violent death at the hands of the Navy SEALs leaves Phillips shell-shocked, and although he was responsible for his actions his death was still tragic nonetheless.
Bryan Hickman is a WhatCulture contributor residing in Vancouver, British Columbia. Bryan's passions include film, television, basketball, and writing about himself in the third person.
