Tom Elce reviews director Bharat Nalluri’s film that’s releasing this Friday in India.

Upon being being dismissed from her job, destitute ex-governess Guinevere Pettigrew (Frances McDormand) goes on the hunt for new employment. Penniless and desperately needing work, she comes into contact with aspiring actress/lounge singer Delysia Lafosse (Amy Adams), a young woman juggling her ambitions alongside a trio of different men.

Epic in length and scope, The Dark Knight is the best Batman film thus far, reinventing what a comic book movie is all about and turning in an altogether brilliant crime drama that fans and non-fans of the caped crusader can enjoy equally. In a summer when comic book films have either been minor successes or hollow mediocrity, Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to 2005’s Batman Begins stands head-and-shoulders above them all, setting an oh-so-high standard for any forthcoming comic films to strive towards equalling.

Christopher Nolan’s widely anticipated follow-up to Batman Begins is also an original story. Only this time, instead of the caped crusader, its arch nemesis The Joker who takes centre-stage. Wounded by scars far deeper than the ones on his face, robbing banks and murdering masses with equal glee The Joker is played by the late Heath Ledger in an unforgettable performance (and one that is sure to set Oscar bells ringing). But instead of playing it chronologically in flashbacks, Nolan only hints at what made the Joker such a potent instrument of absolute chaos.

The latest superhero flick to come swooping in, “Hancock” wants to think itself original by having a superhero who isn’t immediately likeable and whose personal problems stretch beyond simply having that girl next door he always loves. Once the main plot sets in, however, the film begins to reveal itself, eventually conforming to the demands of formulaic plotting. Aside from that, it simply isn’t as entertaining as the better superhero films to have come out in recent years, like the underrated “Hulk,” the “Spider-Man” movies or the soon-to-be sequelized “Batman Begins.”

Po the Panda , a noodle restaurant owner’s son dreams of being a Kung Fu fighter but does not have the body to go with it. By sheer quirk of fate he is chosen as the ” Dragon Warrior” to protect the dragon scroll. He is also supposed to protect the scroll from the evil and to do that he has to learn Kung Fu. A humongous task for Po but a hilarious one for the audience.

Po is fat or shall I say horizontally challenged and he remains so. It’s an irony of a sort to think of a superhero who goes huffing and puffing after climbing a few stairs.

Many people objected to the artistically driven approach that dirctor Ang Lee took to 2003’s “Hulk” and, as a result, that film has gone on to become one of the most underrated entries into the comic-book adaptation canon. For Louis Leterrier’s ill-advised redux, the supposed talkiness of Lee’s effort is forgotten about, replaced instead with more of the Hulk-SMASH moments many might prefer, though this only winds up making the film feel shallow and, in a way, obnoxious.

You have seen fairy tale romances and disliked them. Improbable stories with exaggerated performances to boot, these cheesy movies can be no ones idea of a good film. Yet, I would recommend Penelope. It has all the elements of a bad romance but it manages to steer clear of all of them. It’s an unassuming little movie that stays afloat thanks to its charming lead Christina Ricci.

Manoj Night Shyamalan is back. After two back to back disappointments with The Village and the almost unwatchable Lady in the Water, the Indian-born director wisely reins in his ego and imagination and makes a controlled and elegant film that plays to all his strengths. The Happening tells the story of a cataclysmic natural event seen through the eyes of a science teacher, his wife and a handful of other survivors.