It’s one of the best movie adaptations of comic book material that I’ve seen in years. And no, surprisingly enough, I’m not talking about “Spider-Man.”
No, I’m speaking of “Asterix and Obelix on a Mission for Cleopatra.” The second in a series of live action adaptations of the classic comic strip, I happened to see it–of all places–on the flight back from France. In French with American subtitles, the only actor in it whose name would mean anything to Americans is Gerard Depardieu, playing the massive Obelix.
It is laugh-out-loud hysterical. It not only contains the entirety of the particular adventure upon which it’s based, but also incorporates all manner of updates that miraculously work. Such touches as an entire dance number to “I Feel Good!” after a group of Egyptian slaves drink down the miraculous strength-inducing elixir of the Druid Getafix, to loopy new characters such as Cellularis (whose voice tends to break up for no reason) dovetail perfectly with the existing work. And certain in-jokes are inspired. At one point, for instance, Obelix knocks off the nose of the Sphinx while scaling its face and then exclaims, “A nose? Nay…’tis a rock! A cape! A peninsula!”, requiring that you both know “Cyrano De Bergerac” and also know that Depardieu played him in a memorable film version.
I’ve never seen the first film, but just picked up a DVD of it off ebay. Meantime if you have ANY opportunity to catch this film, I highly recommend it.
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