Astérix et les Vikings

As a great fan of Asterix I was off course very thrilled when I saw that it was decided the adventures of Asterix would once again become animated, because quite frankly I found the movies to be really unimaginative and unwatchable.

The animation itself left me almost speechless. Also for the first time we were able to hear some familiar music in an animated cartoon ("Get Down On It" and "Eye of the Tiger").

The story itself didn't really follow the comic. Only the original idea, that the Vikings wanted to learn fear and thus kidnapped Justforkix who was sent to the Gaul village to become a man, was used. Some of the characters were taken from some other Asterix adventures (seen in the comic books).

The thing that bothered me most was the poor delivery of lines. In the comic the punch lines were much better delivered and the story was simply more amusing. In the movie even those punchlines they used were lost, because the story around them has been changed so much, they were actually just trying to place these punchlines in the new story and failed! Still as this is obviously intended for the youngest of viewers I will say that my nephew enjoyed it greatly, while the rest of us (my father, brother and myself - the four of us went to see it together) were bitterly disappointed and immediately pulled the original comic from our collection.

So to summon it all up, you'll see great animation, hear good music, all in all have a very well made cartoon in front of you - but with a poor storyline.

Having been a faithful Asterix fan all of my life, I have to say that "Asterix and the Vikings" is probably the most well done of all the Asterix films. Its got some very funny jokes in it and the animation is superb. As many people have pointed out, it doesn't really follow the plot of the comic ("Asterix and the Normans") very closely, but in many ways that's just as well, because that book stands out in my mind as one which poked a great deal of fun at the culture of the sixties, and much of it is very dated today.

What really rubbed me the wrong way, though, is how they incorporated a Disney-style plot into the film which took much of the focus away from Asterix and Obelix. We have a misunderstood boy who doesn't fit in, Justforkix. We have a tom-boy girl who doesn't fit in because she wants to be treated as equal to men, Abba. They meet and fall in love, but their love is threatened because boy is ashamed to be totally honest with girl, but in the end their love wins out. This has been the plot of so many Disney (and, be fair, other studios too) films that its not funny and the plot was old twenty years ago. I mean, they even gave Justforkix a whimsical animal sidekick.

Not only did I find this derivative and clichéd, but it really detracted from the story and left me dissatisfied.

I think that it speaks volumes about how superb the rest of the movie was that I still think very highly of it, despite the way the plot got hijacked.

The animation is very good and the humor is very absurd; the plot could have been better, but it's enjoyable.

This film is a perfect example that a movie can not be successful with a high budget alone. It's obvious that there was a lot of time and effort dedicated into this: the animation is fluid, detailed and superb- the soundtrack isn't too memorable except for the ending song by Celine Dion (at least I think it was her). The musical score is powerful full orchestra material. Kudos to the animators and music composers! 9/10. However, the story and characters fall flat. It feels very 'been there, done that', predictable and plain uninteresting. The characters have distinct personalities but nothing too likable. They annoyed me to no end. I tried really hard to like this, but I didn't care about the story- it was cliché action-adventure plot. There were 'jokes' that weren't funny. It was vomit inducing predictable from start to end. The dialogue was cliché and awful- especially the last line "It's not ... that gives you wings, it's love!" Whatever it was, I remember cringing. I was wishing it would hurry up and finish. I wasn't the only one either- the people I went with thought it was boring. Please watch the Asterix and Obelix Cleopatra film if you're going to watch any. This was a waste of time.

New adventure well paced, being a diverting animated feature to be lifted from the marvellous and attractive texts and drawings from Rene Goscinny and Albert Uderzo comic books . Vikings go the Gaul country and kidnap the chief's son called Justforkix. The normands abduct the fierce teen in the mistaken belief that he will be able to teach them to fly . After that , Asterix and Obelix are dispatched by their chief Abraracurcix to rescue the sympathetic young who is considered to be a Champion of Fear, while the terrified Vikings attempt to learn how to eliminate the terror . Later on, the friendly adolescent develops Stockholm Syndrome and falls for both, his captors and Abba, the Viking chief's daughter, an action girl and rights campaigner.

Loosely based on the album : ¨Asterix and the Normands¨, taking parts here and there. This amusing adventure has Asterix and his faithful friend Obelix set out in pursuit the vikings who have abducted a wimpish Gaul boy who was invited at their village by their chief . Here Asterix and Obelix are once more called upon to lay waste Romans , pirates and specially Vikings . It is a fun and funny Asterix movie including usual anachronisms , adding a couple of funky dance tunes are completed to traditional mix . The art direction as well as drawings of this kooky animated movie recreates admirably the comicbooks landscapes , backgrounds and foregrounds, including some brief images in 3D computer generator. The formula is still basically the same a good-natured punch-up heavy rescue-adventure with Roman puns for the adults . Apart from some questionable editing and the use of slightly watered-down colours, the film stays true to the roles , but partially faith to the original album. The animation, however, is good and while is low on the musical count , it all rushes by too fast to notice. The Nordic filmmakers, Stefan Fjeldmark, Jesper Moller, have done fine to keep Goscinny and Uderzo's word play to the fore and in first line. This is one of the best Asterix animated films along with Asterix conquers America , Asterix in Britain, Asterix and the big fight. Youngsters will no doubt enjoy it, but true fans prefer to stick with the pun-ridden books.

This acceptable outing was preceded and followed by several cartoon movies , such as : ¨Asterix the Gaul¨ (1967) , ¨The Twelve Tasks of Asterix¨ (1976) , ¨Asterix in Britain¨ (1986) , ¨Asterix and the big fight¨(1989) ,¨Asterix in America¨(1998) . And various live-action movies as : ¨Asterix vs. Caesar¨ directed by Claude Zidi with Christian Clavier , Gerard Depardieu , Robert Benigni , Laetitia Casta , Arielle Dombasle . ¨Asterix and Cleopatra¨ by Alain Chabat with Monica Belucci , Jamel Debbouze , Claude Rich , Marina Fois , Gérard Darmon . ¨Asterix and the Olympic Games¨ by Frederic Forrestier with Clovis Cornillac , Santiago Segura, Monica Cruz , Jean Pierre Castaldi and Janel Debouzze . ¨Astérix and Obélix : On Her Majesty's Secret Service¨ (2012) by Laurent Tirard with Gérard Depardieu , Edouard Baer, Guillaume Gallienne , Vincent Lacoste , Catherine Deneuve , Charlotte Le Bonn. And subsequently two 3D entries : ¨The Mansions of the Gods¨ (2014) in computer generator that dealt with a Caesar's plan to absorb the villagers into Roman culture by having an estate built next to the village to start a new Roman colony and ¨Asterix and the secret of the magic potion¨(2018) by Alexandre Astier and Louis Clichy . The film will appeal to Asterix and Obelix fans , it's a funny entertaining for kids , grown-ups and nostalgics .