The native Egyptians of Mission Cléopatre employ the word “Imhotep” as a kind of universal designator, from a casual greeting to a brand of local beverage the joke is at once a wry observation on idiomatic usage, and a movie reference to Karloff’s The Mummy (1932), nicely illustrating the film’s broad cultural sweep.ĬG animation delivers a passable recreation of ancient Egypt, but does a good job too in replicating Uderzo’s visual gags, down to to the way the legionaries’ sandals corkscrew in surprise when their owners are catapulted out of them by a potion-fuelled sock in the jaw. Got that? Right, now off you go to create your own.) Linguistic games have always been a mainstay of the original books, and the film adds some amusing wordplay of its own. A few favourites in the latter category: Panasonix, Gieimiakis (=Gimme a Kiss!), Inzemix (no explanation necessary) and (saving the best ’till last) Matthieukassovix! (Gaulish names end in “-ix”, Roman names in “-us”, and Egyptian names in “-is”. That’s the pretext for a Zucker Brothers’-style-onslaught of verbal and visual gags encompassing everything from the inconsistencies of French grammar and satirical jabs at contemporary movies (the Titanic gag is a good one), to the long-standing Astérix tradition of elaborate comic names. The plot takes our warrior-heroes, Astérix (Christian Clavier) and Obélix (Gerard Depardieu) together with magic-potion-toting druid Panoramix (Claude Rich), from their besieged Gaulish village to ancient Egypt, there to assist hapless architect Numerobis (Jamel Debbouze of Amelie) in his thankless task of building a palace to rival the best that Rome has to offer in less than three months, so that Cleopatra (Monica Bellucci) can win a bet with the devious Julius Caesar (Alain Chabat).

It remains one of the most accurate film interpretations of a comic-strip source to date. Actor/director Alain Chabat was an inspired choice to bring Goscinny & Uderzo’s classic story to the screen, deftly melding the sophisticated (and occasionally Classical) wit of the dialogue with expertly-timed elements of visual farce.

A huge hit in its native France, Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopatre seems to have righted all the wrongs committed by its less-than-stellar predecessor, Claude Zidi’s Astérix & Obélix Contre César (1999). Proof at last that it’s possible to adapt dearly-loved comic-strip characters to a big-screen, live-action format without betraying the style and wit of the original work. Cast: Christian Clavier, Gerard Depardieu, Claude Rich, Monica Bellucci, Alain Chabat, Jamel Debbouze. Astérix & Obélix: Mission Cléopatreĭ/S: Alain Chabat.

Asterix and obelix: mission cleopatra