"Captain Phillips" is the Hollywood retelling of the true-to-life 2009 harrowing story of an American container vessel Maersk Alabama (with Captain Richard Phillips at the helm) being held hostage by Somali pirates. The screenplay by Billy Ray was based on the novel "A Captain's Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy SEALs, and Dangerous Days at Sea" written by Captain Richard Phillips himself.

Playing the titular character, Tom Hanks is what this film is all about. He starts off simply, playing Capt. Phillips as a family man and seasoned seaman on a routine delivery. However when the pirates came, you see him transform into a cool-under-pressure leader and shrewd tactician, matching wits with these desperate aggressors. In the last five minutes, Hanks would give us an unexpected display of emotion which may well deliver him another Oscar for Best Actor.

The four Somali-American first-time actors playing the pirates are a very realistic bunch. They play with wild-eyed and feral intensity, really scary. Barkhad Abdi plays their skinny foolhardy leader Muse, engaging Phillips in a deadly chess game, toe-to-toe. Faysal Ahmed plays the hot-headed Najee, who was the loose cannon of the group. Barkhad Abdirahman plays the young recruit Bilal, getting himself a baptism of fire on his first time out.

When I saw the name director Paul Greengrass in the credits, I understood why the sense of tension and urgency were so well-conveyed. This was that familiar sense of excitement we felt in his previous films, like the last two Jason Bourne films or that suspenseful 9/11 drama "United 93". He really knows how to make military operations exciting on screen, as he did for the Army in "Green Zone" and the Navy SEALS in this film.

I have to admit I was on the verge of getting seasick with the shakiness of the camera, but luckily I held on despite the two-hour length of the film set at sea.

Overall, this is a different sort of adventure drama, with a topic not too commonly tackled in a mainstream film. We hear of these events on the news, but this film brings us right in the middle of one. We will feel the tension building as the pirates were approaching. We will feel the fear when the pirates were on board. We will feel the desperation and the frustration of being trapped in the middle of the open ocean with no help immediately forthcoming. If you are up for such a realistic experience, then this film is for you.

Although it was very positively reviewed and Tom Hanks and Paul Greengrass have done some great films in their respective careers, there was the uncertainty as to whether 'Captain Phillips' would be my cup of tea.

The good news is it very much was. Although it does stray from the facts quite a bit, 'Captain Phillips' takes a remarkable and harrowing true story and tells it in a way that's utterly gripping and full of tension and emotion. It won't be for all taste-buds, especially for those who don't like shaky cam, but it is very easy to see why 'Captain Phillips' was and still is received so positively. It's not quite a masterpiece or flawless, it does go on a little longer than necessary which occasionally bogs down the pacing (15-20 minutes shorter would have made a difference) and, although there has been far worse abuse of the shaky cam technique, some of it does get excessive and leaves one feel a little sea-sick.

However, 'Captain Phillips' does more right than it does wrong and boasts some of Greengrass's best directing in one of his best films and one of Hanks' best performances in recent years. Greengrass keeps the tension levels high, maintaining urgency and the more violent moments are explosively powerful. He is particularly good in showing the increasing desperation when things go wrong as well as the horrors of the situation. Hanks is at the height of his powers here, boasting some of the most powerful acting he has ever given, particularly in his very poignant final scenes.

One mustn't overlook Barkhad Abdi, who brings intensity and vulnerability to a character who seems like a villain at first but turns out to be much more than that. The rest of the acting is fine, though Hanks and Abdi are the ones that dominate.

'Captain Phillips' is well made, while some of it is excessive there are other instances where the shaky cam heightens the drama and dizzying intensity. There is an audacious grit throughout. The music pulsates thrillingly without being repetitive or overbearing. The script is thought-provoking and has tightness and also nuance that stops things from being patronising.

Story-wise, 'Captain Phillips' is riveting, there is a heart-pumping urgency throughout and the tension, claustrophobia and desperation escalates and increases to nerve-shredding effect in its best moments. The emotion of the final act crescendos thrillingly and heart-wrenchingly and it is enough to bring tears to the eyes. So much its honesty, pathos and power, Hanks gives it everything to these scenes. The characters are hardly neatly black and white while motivations and character decisions are clear and logical.

In conclusion, tense and powerful, highly recommended. 9/10 Bethany Cox

In the great Leonardo DiCaprio film Blood Diamond, the standard explanation for why the political situation is so screwed up in that continent wherever you go it was simply T I A, This is Africa. And one of the most screwed up places in that continent is Somalia which has not had an effective central government in years now.

It's a country totally devolved now with a bunch of warlords, some with ties to Moslem supremacist groups, others have no ideology but profit. With no government to rein them in, some on the coast have discovered that piracy is an effective way of making money.

So what starts out as two small skiffs with outboard motors and four men in each boat turns into one skiff with four armed men who get lucky and find a whole in the boat's defenses and board the USS Maersk Alabama, a freighter with a good cargo and commanded by Tom Hanks playing the real life Captain Richard Phillips who becomes a hostage of the pirates as they leave in one of the ship's lifeboats.

After that it becomes a battle of wits between Hanks and pirate leader Barkhad Abdi and will the US Navy effect a rescue. This battle is at the heart of Captain Phillips. This man is mister average American, no superhero and doesn't claim to be. His responses to these volatile pirates are a matter of having his training kick in.

What I did not understand is why a merchant freighter going into those waters was not armed. Certainly in World War II eventually they were armed. I wouldn't advocate arming our whole merchant fleet but when you're sailing in waters like off the Somali coast it would seem the prudent thing to do.

Tom Hanks gives a wonderful performance leading a very well cast film showing sailors and pirates caught up in a bad situation.