I can sort of see why this movie was the last of the Asterix and Obelix movies, at least for the next decade or so. It's because it really just isn't all that good. There were three before hand, and obviously they did reasonably well, which is why the fourth film was made, but the fact that they keep changing actors (though Gerard Depardu seems to always land up at Obelix, but that is probably because one of the creators always wanted him to play Obelix), and that they change the characters that appear in the comics, probably started irritating the die hard fans.
In reality, this film is a mix between Asterix in Britain and Asterix and the Normans. I suspect that they threw Asterix and the Normans into the mix because it wouldn't have made a full length film otherwise. However, they dropped Getafix completely, and replaced him with some Indian immigrant who was trying to get into Britain because, well, immigration.
Sure, the original albums did have a lot of social commentary, though ironically the whole struggle is between the simple life, as represented by the village, and the relentless march of the modern world, as is represented by the Roman Empire, headed up by Julius Caeser. While it worked well in the books, it didn't seem to translate all that well to the big screen, at least in this film. Then again, as I mentioned, it is the forth one, and I suspect by this time it starts to become rather difficult to replicate the previous films' successes.
Personally, I didn't think it was too bad, but it did start out rather annoying, especially since I'm not all that used to watching a live action Asterix film. Okay, I have seen some of the others, but for some reason it just didn't seem to be right. A part of me just felt that Asterix and live action doesn't work all that well. Asterix is meant to be a comic book, and I've grown up reading the comic books, and now watching it as live action sort of undermined that original magic of the stories.
Mind you, some of the jokes could quite easily go over the heads of people that either don't know their history (there is reference to the Hundred Years War), or French (there is also mention to the Adjective/Noun ordering of the English and French languages). Mind you, while I do know French, I'm not fluent, and I'm certainly not able to watch the film without the subtitles, so of course a lot of the humour does actually get lost in translation. I guess that is the other thing, but that is more a problem with me as opposed to a problem with the movie.
I guess I should practice a bit more of my French.
In reality, this film is a mix between Asterix in Britain and Asterix and the Normans. I suspect that they threw Asterix and the Normans into the mix because it wouldn't have made a full length film otherwise. However, they dropped Getafix completely, and replaced him with some Indian immigrant who was trying to get into Britain because, well, immigration.
Sure, the original albums did have a lot of social commentary, though ironically the whole struggle is between the simple life, as represented by the village, and the relentless march of the modern world, as is represented by the Roman Empire, headed up by Julius Caeser. While it worked well in the books, it didn't seem to translate all that well to the big screen, at least in this film. Then again, as I mentioned, it is the forth one, and I suspect by this time it starts to become rather difficult to replicate the previous films' successes.
Personally, I didn't think it was too bad, but it did start out rather annoying, especially since I'm not all that used to watching a live action Asterix film. Okay, I have seen some of the others, but for some reason it just didn't seem to be right. A part of me just felt that Asterix and live action doesn't work all that well. Asterix is meant to be a comic book, and I've grown up reading the comic books, and now watching it as live action sort of undermined that original magic of the stories.
Mind you, some of the jokes could quite easily go over the heads of people that either don't know their history (there is reference to the Hundred Years War), or French (there is also mention to the Adjective/Noun ordering of the English and French languages). Mind you, while I do know French, I'm not fluent, and I'm certainly not able to watch the film without the subtitles, so of course a lot of the humour does actually get lost in translation. I guess that is the other thing, but that is more a problem with me as opposed to a problem with the movie.
I guess I should practice a bit more of my French.