Astérix & Obélix contre César

Critics, in France and Quebec, have been very hard on this movie. They all compare the film to the excellent comic books of the adventures of Astérix and Obélix. It's the same old story for any movie adapted from a book : the book will always be better! That's right: Astérix is not as charming as in the books, and some characters (Falbala) are there for... well... what for? Some of the characters of the books are missing in the movie: Cétautaumatix and Ordralfabetix. But for just good entertainment, this is a good movie! It reminds me a little bit of the Flinstone movie : better in cartoons (or comic strips) but not so bad at all. When I saw the movie, I noticed that people really loved Roberto Benigni, because of his succes in the Life is wonderful movie. Children of the audience love the movie, I have lots of fun, so, what's really wrong?

I, not being a fan of live-action movies based on cartoons or comics, didn't expect much of this film. "At least it's made by the French, as were the comics", I thought. The film, however, turned out to be pretty good. The actors did their jobs well and actually managed to look like the original Gauls and Romans I've grown to love. The special effects were impressive, especially the effect of the magic potion. The plot didn't follow any particular album, instead it was a mix-match of several album stories, with a little of its own thrown in. In my opinion, they didn't focus on certain albums enough. The main story, however, was very good. My only real complaint is the portrayal of the Roman legions. The Italian accent they spoke in was needless, because the Italian language wasn't around in 50 BC. And they should dress in green, not red! I recommend this movie to all fans of the Asterix comics. This is what live-action movies about cartoons should be like, which is more than I can say for many Disney movies.

This movie is a feast of recognition for those who know the comic. The story is straight forward. It doesn't follow any story-line from any of the comics. The movie doesn't flow, it's more a collection of scenes. The characters sometimes seem a parody of the characters in the comic than rather staying true to the comic. The visuals are good and have a comic book feel to them. If you know the comic this movie is worth seeing, but don't expect too much from it. For all the other people don't bother.

At the end of the day it's not a film for introducing one's kids to Astérix - buy the comic books for that. It's more a capture of the flavour of the Astérix books for those of us adults who remember them with affection, and who consequently aren't concerned overly with details of plot or characterisation. In fact Astérix and Obélix are woefully under-characterised from the start of the film. If you don't know that Obélix's trade is in quarrying menhirs, then the joke about the heart-shaped menhir for Panacea (Laetitia Casta) is likely to fall flat. But those of us who know and love the characters already are going to enjoy it.

One reason for not showing it to your kids would be that there is the occasional crudity in the language - in my view utterly unnecessary, and against the practice of the comic books - at least the English translations of same.

One of the joys of the English translations of the books was the pains taken by the translators to include jokes specifically for the English, particularly in character's names, eg the chief is called VitalStatistix, the druid is called GetAFix, Caius Bonus becomes Crismus Bonus, etc. Terry Jones has happily continued this tradition, although it's a shame that he didn't do more, as it seems to me that movie script rather emphasised silly japes and slapstick over the wonderful wit of the comic books.

Dèpardieu is an absolute revelation as Obélix (and in the English version, splendidly dubbed by Terry Jones himself).

I thought this movie was a fairly good adaptation of the work by Uderzo and Goscinny. Of course, the comic books are better and I would read one album probably 10 times before seeing this movie again. But still, this film was entertaining and fun to watch.

The acting was good by Depardieu and Clavier (who's also playing in Les Visiteurs) and Roberto Benigni was very good as the Roman soldier. I also liked Michel Galabru as the chief of the Gaulois. I really like this actor that I came to know after watching the whole series of «Le Gendarme de Saint-Tropez» with Louis de Funès, the great French actor.

Two things to end this review. First, the special effects, in this day and age, could have been a lot better. Second, the movie is lacking the subtlety that the comic books have. Verdict: on the way to the video store, stop at the library and get the comic books too. Compare for yourself.

Out of 100, I gave it 75.