The adventures of the tireless and rowdy Gauls penned by Albert Uderzo and René Goscinny have been delighting children and adults all over the world for decades with loving characters and wonderful wit. The editions of the comics are astronomical, the cartoons legendary. The live-action adaptations, however — a disaster.
Nevertheless, the new film will also be successful with its target group. Why? The makers know how to keep their content marketing machines running at full steam — including football ego Zlatan Ibrahimović in a guest role as the unbeatable antivirus legionnaire who has to leave the field with a hamstring injury. You also combine the classic set pieces of the entire series with completely over-the-top, brightly colored fun for the little ones (paralysis from excess) and mix in a strong portion of old man jokes so that the fathers (seriously?) have their fun too. Is done Asterix & Obelix in the Middle Kingdomwhose action, however, does not matter.
But well, since this is a film review, let’s try a short summary: The empress of China has problems holding her country together, which shouldn’t really surprise anyone considering the CGI estates. In any case, some administrator is trying to revolt and on top of that wants to marry the princess Fu Yi (Julie Chen). This, however, flees – after all, she has a passion for Gaul – to the village of the indomitable. So Asterix (Guillaume Canet) and Obelix (Gilles Lellouche) make their way to the Middle Kingdom to ensure law and order; also because Asterix falls in love with the beautiful (oh, she is so beautiful!) princess.
However, good old Julius Caesar (Vincent Cassel — why only?) is also asked for help by the Chinese opponents. He, in turn, only rides into battle because Cleopatra (Marion Cotillard – again: why?) is threatening to elope with the hot gymnastics-yoga-whatever teacher. The rest then consists of Romans flying around, pirates and carrier pigeons vibrating like mobile phones. Basically a stale rehash of all Asterix’s evergreens.
The most important finding: Caesar is no longer allowed in “the small pyramid” of Cleopatra. And on this level, the film flatly jokes its way through a hysterical hidden object that looks as if the sets of ARD fairy tale adaptations from Babelsberg had simply been borrowed and made worse with a little CGI.
In view of the fact that all this nonsense with the live-action adaptations actually began as early as 1999, one can be a little speechless: even nonsense can persist. A simple rule actually applies here: The charm of the comics, in which the figures literally embody their characters, cannot simply be implemented in a live-action film. Everything seems ridiculous, played and immensely wanted.
Asterix & Obelix vs Caesar was the first stroke of this unspeakable idea, which of course had a purely economic background: How can new and broader target groups be developed that are no longer reached by animated films? The first film is still one of the better or at least bearable parts. Asterix & Obelix in the Middle Kingdom on the other hand, is completely unbearable and useless like a menhir.
#Asterix #Obelix #Middle #Kingdom
