Asterix series

(On TV, December 2020) While not quite as much of a classic as the two 1960s animated Asterix films, Astérix chez les Bretons remains a pretty good adaptation of one of the best-known albums in the comic-book series. Obviously, stereotypes abound – and are even the film’s reason for existing as the Gauls go take a trip in England and discover two thousand years’ worth of jokes about bad food, tea, wretched syntax and rugby. (Black and Asian racism isn’t so much fun, though.) The animation is good by the standards of the 1980s, and allows the film to stick very, very close to Uderzo’s designs (which is a big deal compared to the live-action adaptations). Proudly watched in French; I can’t even imagine the mush that any translation would do to the language-related jokes. Solid film, a bit rough around the edges nowadays but still enjoyable.

(On TV, December 2020) As far as Asterix movies are concerned, there are several ages – the Golden Age of the 1960s-1970s, with two all-time animated film classics. The Dark Ages of the first live-action versions, followed by a certain renaissance throughout the 2010s. And in between, the silver age of the 1980s-1990s animated films: clearly faithful to the albums’ tone and style, generally enjoyable but not always all that memorable. Astérix et la surprise de César is perhaps the most average film of that era – solid, competent, animated about as well as the European animation studios were capable of doing at the time, but also featureless compared to other Asterix films. While this one has the catchy “Astérix est là” song from Plastic Bertrand, it doesn’t have a lot of set-pieces worth remembering. The Roman setting feels like another day in the series, and even having Ceasar around isn’t much of a distinction considering that he usually shows up in other Asterix movies at the drop of an excuse. Still, I don’t want to be too hard on it: undistinguished can still be pretty good considering the average level of that era’s Asterix films, and so Astérix et la surprise de César remains enjoyable to watch… even if you may be fuzzy on the details a few days later.