Deadpool*** ½ 

Dir:  Tim Miller

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, Ed Skrein, Gina Carano, Stefan Kapicic, Brianna Hildebrand, T.J. Miller

While comic-book based movies have now become an accepted cinematic staple, there hasn’t been quite a superhero movie like Deadpool. This is appropriate considering that the eponymous hero isn’t your typical superhero either. First of all, Deadpool, isn’t anybody’s idea of a hero - he’s a wisecracking mercenary (the merc-with-a-mouth, as he’s known in the comics) with a constantly fluctuating moral compass and the ability to rack up astonishingly high body counts. Plus he’s a self-aware comic book character, regularly breaking the fourth wall to talk to comic book readers.

Amazingly, debutante director Tim Miller and writers Rhett Rheese and Paul Wernick are able to translate Deadpool almost perfectly from page to the big screen – the movie’s limited budget (which is often referred to in the film itself) freeing them up to become both creative and crazy. This includes breaking the fourth wall - just like the comics – to make fun of superhero clichés and tropes both on film and paper as well as coming up with almost a gag-a-minute both visual and verbal. The laughs start with the hilarious introductory credits - so pay attention to them – which give no names but stereotypes and genre cliches instead (listing the various stars as "hot chick", "a CGI character", "a British villain", for instance) and don’t stop till the end credits roll and beyond (there is the by-now obligatory post-credits sequence - or two).

Ryan Reynolds is perfectly cast as Wade Wilson/Deadpool, the motor-mouth mercenary with healing powers hell-bent on seeking revenge on the man who gave him his powers but messed up his looks. Yes, that’s about as high as the stakes get in this movie (no planet or universe saving heroics here) though Wade’s love-life with his soul-mate Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) is on the line too. The movie is almost stolen out from under Reynolds, however, by Brianna Hildebrand’s Negasonic Teenage Warhead (vastly changed from the comics as a character - but all the better for it), a sulky, snarky teenage X-Man in training. She absolutely nails it and is hilarious on her own and as a foil for Deadpool. I’d love to see more of her in future films and would even be willing to plunk my hard-earned money down on a solo Negasonic Teenage Warhead (absolutely love the name) movie.

Kudos to Fox Studios for allowing Miller and Reynolds to mess with their important X-Men franchise (which is frequently the target of Deadpool’s verbal jabs) and make such an off-beat, R-rated, anti-superhero, laugh-fest.

Cut to chase: Crude, rude, and a whole lot of fun.

Gods Of Egypt ** ½ 

Dir:  Alex Proyas

Starring: Gerard Butler, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Elodie Yung, Brenton Thwaites, Courtney Eaton, Geoffrey Rush, Rufus Sewell, Chadwick Boseman

Political correctness aside (most of the gods - and people - of Egypt in the movie look decidedly Caucasian), Gods Of Egypt turns out to be surprisingly watchable considering the extremely negative reviews it’s received. Of course, it is no classic (not anywhere close to it, in fact) but if you dial down your expectations there is certain of fun in having the likes of Gerard Butler, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (of Game Of Thrones fame), Geoffrey Rush and Rufus Sewell stomping around and chewing up scenery. In addition, director Alex Proyas (not really known for a lightness of touch in his work prior to this) also adds enough propulsion to this tale of ancient gods battling it out for supremacy over the land of Egypt to keep you watching without getting distracted too much. The tale of separated mortal lovers which accompanies the saga of the war of the gods irritates more than making the events on screen more relatable to us but it isn’t that much of a negative as to completely turn you off. The special effects range from effective to average.

Cut to chase: Cheesy - but limited – fun. Kmumtaz1@hotmail.com; Twitter: @KhusroMumtaz

* Not on your life ** Hardly worth the bother **  ½ Okay for a slow afternoon only *** Good enough for a look see  ***½ Recommended viewing **** Don’t miss it **** ½ Almost perfect ***** Perfection