A Hijacking

Starring: Pilou Asbæk, Soren Malling, Dar Salim
Directed by: Tobias Lindholm
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Thriller
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The crew of a Danish cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates and held for ransom.

Review:

Tim: I sought out the Danish film, A Hijacking because I heard that it was even better than the similarly themed Captain Phillips. While I liked the Tom Hanks film, I was by no means blown away- I could see room for improvement, so I was interested to see if A Hijacking could do it. I will say that I liked the film, but I don't think it was the better 2013 Somali pirate hijacking film. It was good, but could have been better.

The appeal (and part of the downfall) of this film is that it's a no-frills look at Somali pirating. The story follows a Danish cargo ship that is hijacked and traces the painfully long negotiation process with the cargo ship's corporation to pay the ransom and free the hostages. This is very different than the American version, where the military comes in with guns ablazin'. This was sometimes fascinating, looking at a more slow boiling, psychological thriller. I was surprised how much time was spent with the Danish corporation, giving insight into the negotiation process. I suppose I wasn't fully aware that in many cases, corporations will pay the Somalia pirates for the return of their crew and ships. The reason this takes months and months is all about trying to land on the right number of millions of dollars. The whole thing is pretty eye opening, and I really enjoyed looking at the strategy involved in the negotiations. That was one of the biggest strengths of the film.

One of the weaknesses is that the film felt significantly longer than its 103 minutes. The middle of the film was a bit soggy and weighted down. I'm not suggesting the film needed more action, but there were far too many scenes that were unnecessary drawn out. I wanted to see more movement, more urgency from the film. It got to a point where I just didn't understand why the negotiation process took months to complete. I get the necessary back-and-forth, but the movie never explained why they needed to wait multiple days in between negotiation sessions. The back-and-forth between the corporation and the crew was mostly good, but it felt a little disjointed. There were times when I wanted to spend more time with the crew. We really only get to know 1-2 hostages, and I was confused about what happened to all the others. The beginning of the film was strong and the end is shocking(except for the very final scene, which was a little anticlimactic), but the middle of the movie was a little weak.

I suppose if you're interested in a realistic look at the negotiation process with Somali hijackers, you couldn't do much better than this film. As a piece of entertainment, it's good, but it could be even more thrilling and suspenseful. I thought that A Hijacking was a good, intelligent, interesting film, but it's certainly not the best Somali hijacking movie of 2013.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7

If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Captain Phillips