Asterix – The Secret of the Magic Potion – Astérix: Le secret de la potion magique (2018)

Directed by: Alexandre Astier, Louis Clichy | 82 minutes | animation, adventure | Dutch voice cast: Dylan Haegens, Bas Keijzer, Huub Dikstaal, Marit Brugman, Rick Vermeulen

Before the bland French live-action movies, Asterix was best known as a cartoon character. The little blond Gaul starred in a number of entertaining cartoons before being brought to life by a number of actors. Comic book purists had a lot to say about the portrayal of this comic icon. Fortunately for them, the technology is so well developed that animated films in 2019 can look almost photo-realistic. ‘Asterix – The Secret of the Magic Potion’ looks like the pages of the French comic have come to life. This film looks very impressive.

In ‘Asterix – The Secret of the Magic Potion’, Druid Panorama decides to pass on his knowledge. Thanks to his magic potion, the villagers can withstand the Roman odds. Together with Asterix, Obelix and the faithful Idefix, he travels across the Gallic Empire in search of a talented and reliable Gaul to whom he can entrust ‘the secret of the magic potion’. However, Panoramix’s rival Sulfurix is ​​determined to unravel the secret and, together with the Romans, tries to thwart the Gauls’ plan.

This film manages to transfer both the look and the humor of the comics to the silver screen. Fans of the source material will love this adaptation. The compact playing time of less than 90 minutes ensures that the pace is good. This animation film is an extension of the old cartoons about the famous Gaul and that is good news. You can see that the creators of ‘Asterix – The Secret of the Magic Potion’ are fans of the source material and genuinely love these characters. The animation looks neat and can compete with the best animation work from Hollywood. That is very impressive when you consider that there are not such generous budgets as is the case in Tinseltown.