When news broke of the plans to make a live-action version of Uderzo-Goscinny’s classic comic books, there was reason for concern. The world created for those books is not easily transferred to a film, and this one is decidedly inferior even though plenty of money was spent on the production and it was by no means a commercial failure. The story is pretty basic, showing our heroes constantly thwarting Julius Caesar’s every attempt to destroy their village. The actors are good and the visual effects decent enough, but the film never rises above mediocrity.

1999-France-Germany-Italy. 110 min. Color. Widescreen. Directed by Claude Zidi. Comic Book: Albert Uderzo, René Goscinny. Cast: Christian Clavier (Asterix), Gérard Depardieu (Obelix), Roberto Benigni (Lucius Detritus), Michel Galabru, Claude Piéplu, Daniel Prévost… Marianne Sägebrecht.

Trivia: Original title: Astérix et Obélix contre César. Terry Jones did the English translation. Followed by two sequels, starting with Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002).

Published 2005-09-23 14:52