Timur Bekmambetov’s return to the big screen in Russia after a two year hiatus – albeit this time in a production role – Black Lightning (Chernaya Molniya) epitomizes the emerging sci-fi trend in Russian cinema exemplified by such earlier films as Night Watch (2004), Day Watch (2006) and the more recent Inhabited Island (2008). With plenty of action, a story built around a flying vintage car and presentation bordering on magical realism, the film appears to have all the makings of a modern classic, yet neither the superfluous special effects nor the production budget of $8 million manage to save it from falling flat on its face.

Following on the heels of vampire love story Let the Right One In (2008), is another runaway hit from Sweden, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. A faithful cinematic adaptation of the bestselling novel by far-left writer Stieg Larsson, the picture offers a foray into the world of ultra-capitalist crime and greed. Although Larsson’s obviously skewed world view and its influence on his work remain the subjects of popular controversy, the massive posthumous success of his novels is remarkable indeed. Having taken Europe by storm, the film – well on its way to becoming a new cult classic – is now set to premiere in the US.

Raw, bold and frenetically charged, Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire’s French drama Johnny Mad Dog is a film about child soldiers fighting a civil war in an unnamed African country one would likely have high hopes for. Shockingly brutal even by Third World standards, and featuring a cast of unknown actors, the work appears to have all the makings of such modern genre classics as City of God (2002), Tropa de Elite (2007) and Jerusalema (2008). So it is surprising to see just how large a gap remains between the director’s no doubt noble intentions and his film’s actual delivery.