Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra – Asterix & Obélix: Mission Cleopâtre (2002)

Directed by: Alain Chabat | 106 minutes | comedy, adventure, family, fantasy | Actors: Gérard Depardieu, Christian Clavier, Jamel Debbouze, Monica Bellucci, Alain Chabat, Claude Rich, Gérard Darmon, Edouard Baer, ​​Dieudonné, Mouss Diouf, Marina Foïs, Bernard Farcy, Jean Benguigui, Michel Crémadès, Jean-Paul Rouve, Edouard Montoute Chantal Lauby, Noémie Lenoir, Fatou N’Diaye, Monia Meflahi, Dominique Besnehard, Zinedine Soualem, Mohamed Nesrate, Joël Cantona, Cyril Raffaelli, Samson Leguesse, Fathi Alwalidi, Claudio Azzopardi, Alexander John Psaila, Sophie Noël, Philippe Chany Loukianenko, Mathieu Kassovitz

Almost three years after the first live action ‘Astérix & Obelix’ film adaptation in 1999, one could once again enjoy a cinematic adventure of the brave Gauls. Although this enjoyment can be discussed in this case, there are few films where the motto ‘love it or hate it’ is as valid as the ‘Asterix & Obelix’ films. Many fans of the comics consider it sacrilege and refuse to watch the movies. Admittedly, a lot of the humor works better on paper, but ‘Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra’ didn’t turn out to be a failure. Both ‘Asterix’ films had the dubious honor of being the most expensive French production to date, but whatever the cost, ‘Cleopatra’ is an improvement over the former in every way. The biggest shortcoming of ‘Asterix & Obelix contre Caesar’ was that the plot of the film was made up of elements from different comic strips, which resulted in a messy whole. Another director was hired for the second heroic attempt: Alain Chabat took over from Claude Zidi and also plays the part of Caesar.

The film is mainly set in Egypt, foreign territory for the Gauls. They are asked to help build a special palace for Julius Caesar, commissioned by Cleopatra (Monica Bellucci). It’s the stake of a bet: Because Caesar claims the Egyptians aren’t as great as they used to be, the Egyptian queen feels compelled to defend her people. When she can build a beautiful palace in three months, Caesar will publicly admit that not the Romans but the Egyptians are the greatest people on earth. Cleopatra orders the architect Numérobis (Jamel Debouzze) to do this job for her: if he succeeds, he will be showered with gold, if he fails, he becomes crocodile food… Because Numérobis remembers that his father used to tell about a druid who can make a potion that will make you very strong, he decides to use his precious time to travel to France and find the druid there. A comic adventure follows in which Astérix, Obelix, Panoramix and Idéfix go with Numérobis to Egypt and provide the workers with the magic potion. Naturally, they encounter the pirates along the way and are thwarted by Caesar and his companions, who soon realizes that he might lose his bet. A competing architect has also foreseen it out of jealousy of Numérobis and his literal life project.

Because the Gauls do not play a home game, a large number of jokes, which otherwise run like a thread through the comics, have been omitted. No fights between the fishmonger and the farrier, no hung up bard, no boars, no menhirs, and only a few Romans flying in the air (with the shoes staying beautifully on the ground). However, there is still plenty to laugh about: what about the Japanese tourists, the many puns and visual humor and references to films such as ‘The Matrix’, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’. The scene in which Obelix destroys the nose of the Sphinx is also very amusing (especially the way in which this accident is solved or covered up). The names of secondary characters have been modernized in a comical way, for example Brucewillix, Malcolmix and Antivirus. Actually, Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu don’t even have that much to do in the film, they often make way for one of the many side characters, where Jamel Debouzze in particular stands out in a positive sense. Monica Bellucci is a fine Cleopatra, but her role could have been expanded a bit.

All in all, ”Astérix & Obelix: Mission Cléopâtre’ has become a very decent comic book adaptation, in any case much better than its predecessor. If you have seen that film and were disappointed, do not hesitate to give this second film a chance.