Asterix & Obelix Take on Caesar (1999)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

So much average

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

I used to read the comics as a kid... by now, I only vaguely remember them, and those of the animated attempts that were produced that I watched, but a lot of things do seem to fit with what I remember. And hey, at least it's produced by the French, featuring the French, France being where the comic is actually from. There are many details that ring true as far as the source material goes... the first few moments contain a well-known image from the comics, reproduced in live action. This also has an interpretation of the singing of the village musician(I can't claim to know the original French names). Also seen is a recreation of the village leader on his shield. Whether or not you particularly care for seeing this, and whether or not you agree with this envisioning of it, it's there to take in. The small dog is there, as well, and he gets used some for comedy(if in fairly morbid and grotesque ways). The production values are of high quality. The acting is pretty good, if some is overacted, more or less intentionally. Depardieu isn't bad in his native language, either(and he is a fairly logical choice, as far as physical type goes, for Obélix, and Roberto Benigni(who, I guess, speaks French...?) is one of the best additions(although one could argue that he wasn't up against much), and gets several laughs. Ceasar was done well, the actor looks and performs as he should. The humor isn't bad, if at times childish, much of it derived from the comics(more or less well-integrated in the film) and some of it is run right into the ground. I did laugh at this film, if not terribly often. I watched this in the original, French language(not a fan of dubbing... actually, that's a powerful understatement), but some of the material still worked. The pacing is reasonable, well, it runs fine, at least. The plot isn't too bad, and works, if some more or less minor points don't make sense once you think about them(and one sub-plot is never fully resolved, characters not seen in the film anymore once they've done what they were there to do). Some things are lifted from the comics, though perhaps too much material from there was used, leaving too little time for development of what there is, as others have pointed out. This is a cartoon brought to life, obvious in the action(which I'm honestly not sure I've ever found particularly intense... entertaining, occasionally, maybe, but not intense). One particular character shows that the French, too, know of, and stoop to, the lowest common denominator(though I suppose it could have been more gratuitous, but this is at least partially a children's film... torture sequences and such notwithstanding). Most of the characters from the comics seem to be there(again, whether or not they're properly done or well-integrated can be debated). The effects are quite good, and help with the cartoon-y action that we know from the original stories by Goscinny(R.I.P.). Some ideas could have been explored in what the plot does, in particular something near the very end, but are not. There is one reference that could be considered clever... but by the second time it's made... yeah. The music isn't bad. The casting and costumes aren't bad. I guess fans might enjoy it, if they aren't too attached to the original. Making live action productions of drawn source material is seldom a good idea. I recommend this to those who want a live-action version of Astérix and Obélix, but not those looking for a good one. Whether or not the second one would fulfill that need, I can't say. 6/10

I saw this movie because I like Asterix and Obelix and I like movies, So I thought this movie will be nice, but actually not.I already knew the comics are better because Asterix is a typical story for comics.But I can't give less than 6/10 because the characters are really like the comic.Roberto Begnini is also a great actor en shows that in this movie.I didn't laugh during this movie because the jokes are too bad.But what I liked during this movies were the resemblances between the comic and this movie.Roberto is not only a great actor he speaks also french very well.The most French movies have good humor with funny moments but this movie is actually boring.In general I don't like comedies.Obelix walking with the stone is also pretty good.Many things were good made and thats the reason why I give 6/10.Actually I didn't expect a nice movie before I watch this movie.The next time I will not watch movies of Asterix and Obelix.

The film is dedicated to René Goscinny. I am very doubtful as to whether he would've liked this sort of remembering. All this dinning mess does to this fan of the comics is irritate him. And yes, it almost makes one growl "sacrilege...", which is, you know, far from a good thing.All that is good about the comic books has been lost on the way. All the verbal wit, the best thing about the albums. Not here. Absent. The other layers beyond the most prominent one. Gone. Not here.The running jokes of the bard being tied to a tree or of Obélix begging for the potion from the albums are here, but they are executed as though this is the viewer's first Astérix experience, thus making the titular character explaining that the other titular character fell into the potion merely irritating; they have only used the parts that constantly repeat themselves in the albums, the Astérix clichés, if you will, but they have forgotten to alter them. Moreover, the characters' characteristics have been changed so that they barely resemble their comic book counterparts.What few jokes and gags there are that might have even worked are mostly ruined by bad delivery or execution. What the hell is Benigni doing? Doesn't work for me. His performance is characteristic of the whole film: much noise, little success.The plot, if there is such a thing, goes nowhere. The film mashes elements from various albums together so that what is left is an incoherent chaos. As if that weren't enough, they bring aboard these moronic new things, such as the cloning fiasco.The costume and set design and the special effects, even the hair, are all done as if this were a cartoon, and yes, very badly so. They are merely annoying. Just thinking of the post-potion-drinking effect makes me cringe. "C'est intolérable", indeed. Even the bloody music over the bloody credits is ridiculously chosen!I had two strong candidates for the summary of this comment; the other one was "Lost in adaptation". Alain Chabat improved on both this and his directorial debut "Didier" with the sequel more loyal to one (!) of the albums and, while at it, proved that it is, in fact, possible for a live-action Astérix film to work, which is why I chose the current title. For you see, this one does not work.

I did not go into this movie with very high hopes. I think it speaks volumes that a film that was so comercially successful elsewhere around the world, with so many big name stars attached to it, was not released in the United States.While it was at times, quite amusing, the script was so disjointed that it really didn't make much sense.The plot of the movie was a patchwork quilt of elements lifted from a variety of the comics, with a sprinkling of new devices. As in the first comic, "Asterix the Gaul" the druid Getafix and Asterix are kidnapped by the Romans. As in "Asterix and the Soothsayer" a pseudo-mystical con-men comes to the village to cause trouble. Panacea and Tragicomix from "Asterix the Legionaire" are there, but for no good reason. It all comes together into a muddle. My interest was picqued every time a familiar element came up, but then vanished when it was just as quickly discarded, to make way for the next element. It was not until about halfway through the film that we get to the actual plot, and while that could have been pretty interesting, there were so many digressions that I couldn't enjoy it. It was as if, just as soon I would be comfortable in the genuinely amusing spirit of the story, I'd be pulled off in another direction.It was sad, because apart from the plot, everything else was dead on, the sets, costumes, and special effects were all great. Gérard Depardieu was perfect as Obelix. Robert Benigni was good as the comically evil Detritus, though he didn't really get enough screen time to establish his character. I had heard that the fight scenes were superb, and this is true, they look just like they did in the comics. My two complaints on the productions values were that 1) The costume of Asterix was lousy -- he looked nothing like he did in the books, the feathers in his hat kept flopping over like they didn't want to stay on; and 2) The Gaulish village looked like a sound-stage. I don't know if it was actually filmed outdoors, but it looked awful! And since its one of the first things we see, I would have liked it to look more impressive, like the comics.I find it disappointing that they couldn't have found a winning script for the movie, because they had so many ready-made ones at their disposal (i.e. the comics). If they had just chosen one of those and worked from that, instead of cobbling together a bunch of them into one Frankenstein's monmster of a plot, then I would have enjoyed the movie much more. They certainly had everything else down perfectly.