Astérix & Obélix: L'Empire du Milieu

The first Asterix and Oblix movie was pretty much fun, but things went downhill from there with this as an absolute low. There are some funny moments but all in all it dragged on and on and on. None of the characters were really convincing, except for Oblix, Tatan and the empress. Asterix, who should be the leading hero, was exceptionally poor, really dull. The introduction of Ibrahimovic was useless with some predictable footbal jokes.

It may also have been the french humor, which isn't humor at all but just acting a bit silly and make it drag-on. Like Ceasar's writter who was a bit fun at first but become more and more anoying: "yes now we know, get on with it"

Of course I am well-familiar with the Asterix and Obelix characters, as I loved reading the comic books when I was a kid. I just never got around to watching the live action movies, for some reason, though I did watch the cartoons when I was a kid as well.

And thus, as I had the opportunity here in 2023 to sit down and watch "Astérix & Obélix: L'Empire du Milieu" (aka "Asterix and Obelix The Middle Kingdom"), I did so. And I have to say that I was genuinely and positively entertained by director Guillaume Canet's movie. It looked and felt very much like what you had and have in the comics, so that was quite good.

Writers Julien Hervé and Philippe Mechelen put together a rather enjoyable and funny script and storyline for the movie. Again, it felt and looked like what you get in the comics, so it was a hit right on the head. Lots of good entertainment throughout the course of the 112 minutes that the movie ran for.

The acting performances in the movie were good, and leading actors Philippe Mechelen (playing Astérix) and Gilles Lellouche (playing Obélix) carried the movie quite well. It was also good to see the likes of Vincent Cassel (playing César), Julie Chen (playing Tat Han) and Julie Chen (playing Princesse Fu Yi) on the screen. Even soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic (playing Antivirus) shows up in the movie in a funny role.

Visually then "Astérix & Obélix: L'Empire du Milieu" was good. Good special effects without going over into the deep end, thus letting children enjoy the movie as well.

Something that could have been better in the movie was the fact that everyone spoke French. It made zero sense why the Romans and the Chinese also spoke French.

I thoroughly and genuinely enjoyed "Astérix & Obélix: L'Empire du Milieu", and it is a movie that I will warmly recommend. My rating of "Astérix & Obélix: L'Empire du Milieu" lands on a six out of ten stars.

Some funny moments but too many long sequences without jokes and, to be frank, not interesting. One kungfu fight would have been enough.

Totally useless cameo by soccer player Zlatan Something.

I liked the new Obelix, Gilles Lelouche gave to the character a lot that was missing in the lazy Depardieu acting. Canet was rather ineffective as Astérix. The character is supposed to be smart and funny, he played him as a bumbling idiot. A vegan Astérix ? What a stupid idea.

Cotillard was a very nice Cléopatre for the whole minute she is on screen. Cassel was, as usual, quite convincing as César. But his entourage was lackluster.

The year is approximately 50 B. C, Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans commanded by Julius Caesar. Well, not entirely..One small village of indomitable gauls still holds out against the invaders. 4 Roman camps surround the village and still unable to conquer it. Asterix is worried about the long-term health impact of using the magic potion excessively. But he knows that the Gauls cannot fight the Romans without it. And the life is not easy for the Roman legionaries whose garrison surrounds the fortified small village located in Armorica. There live our friends, the intelligent hero Asterix (Guillaume Canet replaces Christian Clavier, Clovic Corlillac, Edouard Baer), the menhir delivery man and addicted to wild boar Obelix, the venerable aging druid with his potion which gives the drinker incredible energy, the majestic, hot-tempered, brave chief of the tribe, among others. As always, the perilous missions that eventually emerge are immediately trusted to shrewd, cunning Asterix . And Obelix (Gilles Lellouche stand-in Gerard Depardieu), ready to drop everything and go off on a new adventure with Asterix, this time towards China and fighting, as usual, against the stupid Romans, pirates and a mean Julius Caesar. The village has Unhygienix (Jason Chicandier) the fish monger, Cacofonix (Philippe Katerine) the guy who cannot sing, Vitalstatistix (Jérôme Commandeur) the village chief, Getafix (Pierre Richard), the honorable druid who brews magic formulas, his speciality is the potion which gives the drinker superhuman strength, Panacea (Angèle) the damsel and so on. There arrives Princess Fu Yi (Julie Chen), the only daughter of the Chinese Emperor Han Xuandi (91-48 BC), escaped from a rogue prince, Deng Tsin Qin (Bun Hay Mean), and fleeing to Gaul, seeking help from Asterix and Obelix .

Full of fights, noisy action, chases, jokes, customs critical about way of life and modern anachronisms that's common thing in the classic comic books. This is a nice adventure with big fun and comical incidentes here and there, and has Asterix and his inseparable friend battling, as usual, against silly Romans. Plenty of action, amusement, fun fights, battles and punches, adding modern anachronisms. The flick brilliantly captures spectacular adventures, tongue-in-check, irony, satire , absurd humour from original comic books drawn by Albert Uderzo and writing credits by Rene Goscinny. As always, on the finale the village people celebrating a wild party and eating boars in a gargantuan lunch, though here adding an unappropriate parody to ¨Dirty dancing¨movie .

Packs sympathetic first appearance of Cleopatra acted by Marion Cotillard -who formerly performed Monica Belucci married to Vincent Cassel-, along with Julius Caesar played by Vincent Cassel and previously interpreted by Gottfried John, Alain Chabat, Alain Delon. Several notorious French secondary actors appear, such as José Garcia, Philippe Katerine, Audrey Lamy, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Ramzy Bedia, Linh-Dan Pham of Indochina. And, of course, the likeable pirates and their damned sinking ship show up as well. The movie was regular but professionally directed by Guillaume Canet, being lavishly budgeted with a cost 65 million euros, which is enormous for French cinema: at the time of its release, it was in the top 10 of France's most expensive movies. This passable fifth entry shot in live acting was preceded by ¨Asterix vs. Caesar¨ directed by Claude Zidi with Christian Clavier, Robert Benigni , Laetitia Casta , Arielle Dombasle , ¨Asterix and Cleopatra¨ by Alain Chabat with Monica Belucci , Jamel Debbouze, Claude Rich , Marina Fois , Gérard Darmon and ¨Asterix and the Olympic Games¨ by Frederic Forrestier with Clovis Cornillac , Santiago Segura, Monica Cruz , Jean Pierre Castaldi and Janel Debouzze; ¨Astérix & Obélix: Au service de sa Majesté¨ by Laurent Tirard with Gérard Depardieu, Edouard Baer, Vincent Lacoste, Valérie Lemercier, Catherine Deneuve. The film will appeal to Asterix and Obelix fans , it's an enjoyable entertaining for kids, grown-ups and nostalgics.

Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom is a continuation of the once very good French comedy series. But unfortunately, after part 2, each subsequent one was worse. And more than 10 years later, a new part was released. A good cast of French stars, not a bad idea. It may even seem that this is the same Asterix & Obelix that we all liked in the early 2000s. But no, it's only the first 20 minutes, then you realize that this movie is even worse than the previous one. It is not a whole work as such, but a gluing of either scenes that copy themselves from previous films or new ones that do not surprise at all. Guillaume Canet did a good job both as an actor and as a director, he assembled a good cast and tried to reass the same atmosphere, but it is better to leave this franchise alone.