Astérix & Obélix: L'Empire du Milieu

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.

I was skeptical of this movie and did not plan on seeing it in a cinema, but then when the opportunity to view it in a small local theatre arose, I went for it. The advantage of the local theater that is in walking distance is that you can drink alcohol during the viewing. I managed 3 lagers and sadly that was not enough.

To be completely honest, there are things to like about this movie. Some of the jokes worked. The costumes, locations, effects and overall production value is very good. Ceasar and Cleopatra were fun to watch and carry the movie IMO. Why the bad rating you ask? I am sorry, but I cannot give any more points to a movie called Asterix & Obelix which gets the main character so completely wrong. It is a fundamental flaw that I can't get past. Asterix is supposed to be a smart, funny and likeable character. What have we got in this movie? He doesn't want to eat meat (but does anyway) and doesn't want to rely on the magic potion (but does anyway). The Magic potion side of things could have been a setup to showcase his wit and have him outsmart his oponents, such plotlines were done before but no, he just takes the potion as a hypocrite and carries on. Oh and there is a pointless loveinterest subplot. Imagine seeing this movie as your first encounter with Asterix and Obelix, which it for many kids probably is. The character onscreen is a nonagreable pretentios whiny hypocrite. Why anyone would want to watch any movies with THIS charater is baffling.

So much money spent on this movie and they couldn't afford anyone to write a decent script? It becomes more frustrating when you compare it to the last Animated movie, the secret of the magic potion. If you go one step beyond that, you get the excellent Mansion of the Gods movie, which means that there still are people who can write an engaging Asterix story out there.

This movie actually does more harm than it would if it were not made at all. If it does well at the box office, more such trash will be made. If it does poorly at the box office, the producers will think that the IP is dead and it can hinder any further Asterix movies ever being made. If future movies are to be made in the same spirit I guess the lesser evil would be not to have any more movies.

If you are a fan, then avoid this movie. If you are not, I can't see how this movie would turn you into one. Just forget 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.

This is an enjoyable, popcorn-friendly comedy, that will help you relax and forget some of your problems. Marion Cotillard becomes more prominent in the second half of the movie. Zlatan Ibrahimovic is a secondary character, to my surprise, but he elicits a few laughs. The new casting is likeable, but it doesn't quite live up to the old actors' talent and charm, meaning Gerard Depardieu and Christian Clavier were far better as Obelix and Asterix, respectively (too bad they' re too old), and the script is what you'd expect from a standard "Asterix and Obelix" movie. It's not super original, but it can hold your interest, and younger kids' as well. Overall, it's not a masterpiece, but it's not a waste of money and time, and it's a generally family-friendly movie, that it's funny enough.