Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom

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.

Not sure why there is so much hate in other reviews to be honest.

It wasn't perfect or the funniest thing ever and it did go on a bit longer than needed with a lot of sequences that could be removed. I think some moments needed a bit extra time than what it was given. It cut back and forth in a bit weird way and didn't have a good flow

They did play around with the names as jokes which worked good mostly, Zlatan's cameo was funny for those who understood basic soccer. A bit of adult humor too and some parallels with modern technology.

Overall it was a pretty good and relaxing movie to watch.

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.

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"

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.