Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatre

In 1995, the movie "le hussard sur le toit" was released and it had a record; it was the most expensive movie ever made. This record was beaten seven years later with this film. But once again, this enormous budget was worth to be spending. Alain Chabat controls perfectly the huge incomes to his disposition (for example, sceneries are carefully restored and the crowd movements are wide) and he succeeds in recreating the fanciful atmosphere of the Astérix'albums. His making is very inventive, full of clever visuals and ringing brainwaves. Moreover, he doesn't only emphasize on the special effects of the movie and this was one of the faults of the first Astérix' film made by Claude Zidi in 1999. On the other hand, what a casting! It's very similar to the Sacha Guitry's film "si Versailles m'étais conté" and you can have fun by guessing which actor epitomize which character of the album "Astérix et Cléopâtre". As far as Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu are concerned, they're better managed than in the Zidi's film: they don't ham it up and are more credible in their respective roles even if Depardieu isn't fat enough. The other actors are excellent, (especially Gérard Darmon) rightly chosen even the minor actors in whom Chabat grants a big importance. Nevertheless, this one doesn't fit in the Caesar's role: he is a bit listless and not authoritarian enough. At last, let's notice that the characters' names are successful and funny puns (Menubestofplus, Numérobis, Itinéris), but they're only easily understood for French people. At the end, a successful adaptation of the Astérix's comic strip on the screen and a pleasant entertainment.

With a joke per line, they succeeded in making a very funny movie and keep the essence of the comic books. The actors (Jamel Debouze in particular) are hilarious and play their charactors very well. Of course you need a very good level of french to understand all the jokes but they're worth the classes if you really want to have a good laugh!

I loved this film, the audience I was part of loved this film, and the little 7 year old girl who was with me loved this film. We all laughed at the puns, the visual humour, and the good feeling you left the cinema with when it ended. I could easily see why it was such a huge box-office success in France. I am planning on buying the DVD, so I can see it again and laugh at all the bits I missed as I was laughing so hard the first time.

I have to confess that I slept in the cinema while watching the first Asterix movie... but this one is simply FANTASTIC! It is really funny and it leaves the first one miles away. It has enumerous gags and funny situations that made me laugh since the first minutes of the movie and I only stopped laughing when I reached the car to return home. I repeat: this movie is spectacular... Obelix is really funny and Cleopatra is a real babe!!

You cannot be seeing the same movie if you didn't grow up in France (or spent at least 10 years there, like me). I don't know if it will ever make it outside French cultural borders (I include Belgium and Luxembourg here). You cannot translate its kind of fun - every name is joke (how many people outside Paris would understand the pun in "Couloirdebus", the name of one of the Roman legionnaires ?). However Monica Bel(l?)ucci is so beautiful, I almost forgot to breathe when I saw her.