Director: Louis Clichy, Alexandre Astier
Distributor: eOne
Duration: 86 minutes
Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods (Blu-ray) – Movie Review
Asterix is a delightful little Gaul with the strength of an ox and bravery of a lion. Well, the ox strength might have to do with the magic potion he drinks right before every brawl, but his heart is in the right spot. Together with his best friend in the world, Obelix, they have been fighting off the Romans for many years, staying strong, not surrendering their small, cozy Gaul village. After years of radio silence, a new comic book was released in 2014 and to commemorate this grand event, a movie and game were made. Be warned, this movie might just tickle your “funny bone”.
Julius Caesar is extremely annoyed by the little Gaul village that keeps raining down on his parade. His plans for total domination are all complete, except for a little speck on the map that is occupied by the kindhearted, extremely strong Gaul villagers. He wants to wipe away the village, but he has learned the hard way that brute force is not the key to success. Thus, after long consideration and many sleepless nights, he came up with a plan that might just be his most diabolical plan yet, namely to plant a new town, next to the Gauls, that will slowly start to assimilate the eyesore village. There seems to be only one difficulty, namely being able to deforest the area around the Gaul’s living area, without them beating the living snot out of the Roman architects and soldiers.
In the small Gaul village we are reunited with our friends from the comic books, Asterix, Obelix and his pet dog Idefix and all the other loveable scruffy villagers. Life is good, even with the Romans lurking nearby. On a recent hunting trip, Asterix (Warre Borgmans), Obelix (Wim Opbrouck) and Idefix bump into a Roman architect, who tells them about the plans of Caesar. Of course this ends up in Obelix making a manmade rocket out of the architect, who later is even more eager to try and get rid of the Gauls. Soon the Gauls will have to do their best to counter the deforestation and the infestation of Roman citizens. Sadly, it seems they will not be able to prevent all that Rome decides to throw at them.
Overall the story is all about little (and big) conflicts, that have a hefty dose of humor in them, while the main plot keeps evolving. The movie itself has a quick flow, except for the fact that some scenes might be a bit dragged out. This does not mean that the movie itself is too long, but the slower scenes kind of break the fun atmosphere the movie is trying to aim for. Again, this does not mean the movie itself does not perform well with serious scenes, some just feel a bit dragged out too much. When it comes to the humor used in the movie, it feels authentic and is genuinely funny. To strengthen the humor even further, funny scenes are often accompanied by music that adds a little extra.
The movie itself is voiced in either French, Dutch or ‘Flemish’. We took a closer look at the ‘Flemish’ version, but nonetheless we watched parts of the other versions in order to make comparisons. Overall the Flemish version seems to sound a tad smoother, whilst the overall humor stays the same in the different versions. In all versions it’s clear that all voice actors were picked with care, providing the right actor for the right character.
Surprisingly, even though the movie was not animated by a giant studio like Pixar, it looks amazing. All animations are smooth, detailed and realistic, even in this unrealistic setting. It shows that the animators took great care in porting the 2D animations into a new 3D world. All characters look just like in the comic books and perhaps even better.
Conclusion
Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods is a fun animated movie for pretty much everyone. The humor is spot on, the animations are great and the story proves to be very entertaining, even with a small dash of history. Perhaps it’s time Asterix and Obelix enter the world of 3D animations.
Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods (Blu-ray) - Movie Review,
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