Captain Phillips (Cert 12, 134 mins). Starring Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, Catherine Keener, Michael Chernus, David Warshofsky, Yul Vazquez *****

Captain Richard Phillips (Hanks) kisses his wife Andrea (Keener) goodbye and takes charge of his cargo vessel, the Maersk Alabama, bound for Mombasa, Kenya. He is aided by a hard-working international crew including Chief Mate Shane Murphy (Chernus) and Chief Engineer Mike Perry (Warshofsky). Somali pirates led by Muse (Abdi) board the vessel and Phillips conceals his crew below deck in the engine room while he takes charge of the situation. Faced with threats of violence from Muse and his hot-headed compatriot, Bilal (Abdirahman), Phillips puts himself in harm’s way to ensure the safety of every man on board. The stand-off spirals out of control and destroyer USS Bainbridge, captained by Frank Castellano (Vazquez), races to the scene to avert disaster. Captain Phillips is a nerve-wracking thriller that fully deserves its six Oscar nominations. Hanks is flawless and Abdi delivers a striking supporting performance, adding depth and complexity to a role that could easily have been a caricature. Paul Greengrass demonstrates once again why he is one of the finest directors of nail-biting action. If you thought the film-maker had peaked with the adrenaline-pumping thrills of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, think again. From the moment the Somali pirates first appear on the radar, Captain Phillips leaves us feeling seasick with tension until the extraordinary final scene that releases all of that pent-up emotion in a torrent of tears. Our tears.

Turbo (Cert U, 95 mins). Featuring the voices of Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena, Samuel L Jackson, Luis Guzman, Bill Hader, Snoop Dogg, Maya Rudolph, Ben Schwartz, Michael Patrick Bell, Richard Jenkins, Ken Jeong, Michelle Rodriguez ***

A heart-warming computer-animated adventure about a garden snail who feels the need, the need for slime-burning speed. Following a tried and tested formula that propels David Soren’s film into the winner’s circle (albeit without any surprising detours), this is a classic David and Goliath story enlivened with larger-than-life characters and high-octane action sequences. The title character is instantly likeable and we root for Turbo as more obstacles are flung in his path. Snails have rarely looked so gosh-darn strokeable. Reynolds radiates warmth in the lead opposite a suitably downbeat Giamatti, with supporting cast dividing up the one-liners including Ken Jeong as a sassy manicurist. Visuals are slick, even at high-speed in 3D, which is available exclusively on Blu-ray.