Film Review: Asterix and Obelix The Middle Kingdom

 ASTERIX & OBELIX:THE MIDDLE KINGDOM

 

Based on a comic book series, 10 animated films and 4 films have so far been made-Asterix & Obelix Take on Caeser (1999), Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra (2002), Asterix at the Olympic Games (2008) & Asterix & Obelix : God Save Britannia (2012) and this latest, newest swashbuckling entertainer is the 5th installment in the film series.



 It is the 1st live-action Asterix film which is, not based on any of the Asterix comic albums and is  an action packed family film laced with adventures and humour.

Story :

 Based on the original story by Philippe Mechelen and Julien Hervé, this adventure comedy has Guillaume Canet (who has directed the film too) as Asterix and Gilles Lellouche as Obelix. 



They travel to China with the objective of saving Princess Fu Yi (Julie Chen), the only daughter of the Chinese Emperor, who escapes from a rogue prince, Deng Tsin Qin (Bun Hay Mean), and goes to Gaul, seeking help from Asterix and Obelix. 

Review:

For fans of the comic books, its always great to see your favourite characters come to life and the film fulfils that expectation with superb recreations of the Gaul village and look and costumes of the characters.

However, Asterix was a tad smaller in build in the comics than Obelix, but in this movie it is not so. The scenes of emotion between the duo however , do leave a mark. 

The scenes with Ceasar are interesting viewing. The travel to China however, gives a feeling of moving too far away from the Gaulois world of Asterix. One wishes for more scenes with the Romans instead. However the Chinese Empress does leave a mark with her presence.

Though they are grand, the war scenes dont make much impact.

 The trademark humor quotient of the franchise and comics, is not that high in this version.  

Overall, a watch for the family audiences, looking for cinematic spectacle, a superb recreation of the Gaul world and loads of adventure.

 

​Releasing on May 12th 2023 in English, Tamil, & Hindi

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