Asterix & Obelix al servizio di Sua Maestà

This is a very cute adaptation (with updates) of the classic Asterix comics. The version I had only had French audio with subtitles available in English. This wasn't a problem, as one of the running gags of the film is that French actors playing English characters (most notably the impossibly elegant Catherine Deneuve) speak with their French with horrible English accents. The prize for best/worst Frenglish goes to Charlotte Le Bon, who sounds like she's flunking her first semester of French. The jokes are generally cute-but-harmless, notably the 5:00 hot water break that defines life in England at the time of Caesar. There are references to Star Wars and A Clockwork Orange that don't appear in the 1966 source material, and an Indian character who might strike a contemporary audience as uncomfortable. Still, of all the live-action Asterix films, this one seems to best capture the spirit and absurdity of the comics. Very sweet, very fun, and well worth catching on video.

Fun film, but not as good as the others. The story remains funny though and Britannia is a good change of atmosphere for the gang.

I have not much to say but this film is horribly under-rated. It has no dark undercurrent, no social engineering (a rarity these days), it is just light, laugh out loud funny, with good acting, cast, sets and story.

I have not watched something this fun and innocent for a long time. This is far cleaner and leaves you feeling better than any Disney or animated film i can remember.

Also there is none of that horrible Hollywood overtone where everything is over done & there is no subtlety because the audience is assumed to be morons.

People claiming this film promotes homosexuality (an agenda in society i am very aware of and personally protest) have no idea what they're talking about. The English dignitary was just inferring that Asterix and Obelix are homosexual because they live together, as a jibe. Nothing more.

Go watch it, have fun, feel good.

I hope they make another.

The fourth film adaptation of the famous Asterix comic books is the best one so far. Entertaining and even witty at points, instead of boring and crude like the previous films, the movie is based (quite faithfully) on the 1966 album Asterix in Britain (one of the best of the series), with some bits from Asterix and the Normans. Asterix and Obelix help the Britons resist a Roman invasion by Julius Caesar (in the real history, Julius Caesar made a punitive expedition to Britain in 55 BC; Britain would only fall under Roman rule in 43 AD under emperor Claudius). A lot of the comic situations are based (like in the original albums) on national stereotypes, on how the French and the Englishmen see each other. There is also some mildly risqué humor here (with a Briton initially believing Asterix and Obelix to be a gay couple). Edouard Baer is Asterix. Gerard Depardieu is Obelix (he's fine, and by now, it's difficult to think any other actor playing that role).The veteran Catherine Deneuve has a cameo as the queen of the Britons. Fabrice Luchini is Julius Caesar. Production values are acceptable.

...and it could not be more. because it is one of easy films, seductive for the names from cast, for use of cliches and stereotypes, for humor and for cultural references in clothes of not real good irony. a mixture of history and cartoons. so, just nice. or only nice. but nothing more because it is a film giving to each viewer a small present , from great actors in sketches of characters, cultural clash , contemporary references and the absence of Clavier as Asterix by effort of admirable Baer.