Should you watch this at weekend movie ticket prices? Yes.
Should you watch this at weekday movie ticket prices? Yes!
Secret ending? An audio one.
Running time: 85 minutes (~1.5 hours)
“Asterix: The Mansion of the Gods” is an animated film adaptation of the Asterix series of comics, notably the volume of the same title. It centres around Julius Caesar’s plot to conquer the Gauls by building Roman apartment buildings nearby.
If you’re a fan of puns and wordplay, “Asterix” is probably of one of your favourite childhood comics. It’s rather amusing to see them translated into comic characters again on screen, about nine years after the last Asterix movie in 2006. They’re as funny as ever and sure to leave you in stitches no matter what age you are.
This is more a function of the concept and story itself than of the film medium, but the intentionally over-modern elements and references to today’s culture still strikes me as one of the most amusing elements of Asterix. Perhaps it’s poking fun at our materialistic society today, but even at face value these anachronisms elicit chuckles from you.
Hilarious names
While it’s already funny to read the names and figure out the wordplay yourself, listening to them being said out loud just magnifies the humour. Fortunately, the -ix and -us names aren’t overplayed, and each character’s pun name is said at most three times in the film to prevent any dead horses from being beaten.
Wide spectrum of humour
As with the traditional Asterix comics, there’s wordplay, innuendoes, and sight gags to cater to all age groups. There are even some sly risque references woven in, but those are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moments. The Gaul’s tongue-in-cheek comments about themselves also play a part in adding to the self-referential style of the movie.
Commercialization of Gauls
I was very entertained by this particular plot thread, where the Gauls begin to take on the same money-minded, decadent lifestyle of the Romans. On one level it works because of the irony involved, but at a deeper level it also raises the stakes and makes their eventual rescue by Asterix not just a physical escape, but a type of moral salvation.
Act Two is particularly draggy, with nothing significant happening and the same beats and events being overplayed. It’s a pity, given the curiosity generated in Act One and the great action in Act Three. Act Two could have been truncated and the story would still make sense, which leads to my next point.
The run time is too long
There’s not enough story for the amount of movie here, which makes the run time seem much longer than it really is. A shorter movie would have packed more punch and been a more impactful piece overall.
“Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods” is a ultimately a fun adaptation of a timeless franchise, and is a pleasure to watch. Just watch out for that saggy middle portion though (or rather, ignore it), and the movie will be great.
“Asterix: The Mansions of the Gods” opens in cinemas 12 March, 2015 (Thursday).
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