Captain America: The Winter Soldier (Cert 12, 130 mins, Walt Disney Studios)

IN HIS heroic guise as Captain America, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) leads a daring rescue mission at sea, flanked by sexy spy Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson).

Soon after, SHIELD director Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) escorts Rogers into the bowels of the agency’s headquarters, which houses three state-of-the-art heli-carriers. These aerial warships, codenamed Project Insight, will extinguish threats to global peace from the skies. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is cut from the same cloth as the first instalment of the Marvel Comics hero. Addressing timely concerns about unrest in the Middle East and the corruptibility of the political establishment, the Russo brothers’ sequel is a bombastic extravaganza that’s every bit as entertaining as the opening chapter.

The Love Punch (Cert 12, 94 mins, Entertainment One)

RICHARD JONES (Pierce Brosnan) and his ex-wife Kate (Emma Thompson) are crippled by loneliness as they lead separate lives.

He is poised to retire to the golf course with best friend Jerry (Timothy Spall) while she reluctantly agrees to go on blind dates organised by Jerry’s well-meaning wife, Penelope (Celia Imrie). Shortly after the couple’s daughter Sophie (Tuppence Middleton) flies the nest for university, Machiavellian French businessman Vincent Kruger (Laurent Lafitte) plunders the pension fund of Richard’s company, leaving the Joneses on the brink of financial ruin. A trip to Paris to confront Kruger ends badly so Kate jokingly suggests they steal the hulking diamond necklace, which Kruger’s unsuspecting fiancee (Louise Bourgoin) will wear on their wedding day. The Love Punch is a ham-fisted caper that nods affectionately to Brosnan’s years as James Bond. The outcome is predictable but the chemistry between Brosnan and Thompson fizzes.

The Quiet Ones (Cert 15, 98 mins, Lionsgate Home Entertainment)

IN 1970s Oxford, Professor Coupland (Jared Harris) is convinced there is a direct link between paranormal activity and human negative energy. He ignores university protocols and conducts a secret experiment on a troubled patient, Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke), aided by two students, Kristina Dalton (Erin Richards) and Harry Abrams (Rory Fleck-Byrne). Cameraman Brian McNeil (Sam Claflin) is recruited to provide the evidence that will send shockwaves through the academic establishment. Inspired by a real-life incident, The Quiet Ones resorts to staples of the genre such as creaking doors that open of their own accord. Harris teeters on the brink of hysteria throughout, leaving younger co-stars to curry our sympathy.

NEW TO BUY: Boardwalk Empire – Fourth Season (Cert 18, 670 mins, Warner Home Video/HBO)

LUCK could be running out for Enoch “Nucky”

Thompson (Steve Buscemi) in 12 electrifying episodes of the award-winning drama set in 1920s corruption-riddled Atlantic City.

In this series, Harlem kingpin Dr Valentin Narcisse (Jeffrey Wright) makes his presence felt in the upper echelons of power, Chalky (Michael K Williams) is forced into hiding after a relationship goes sour, and Nucky has an awkward reunion with Margaret (Kelly Macdonald).