Astérix aux jeux olympiques (2008)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Directors:

Frédéric Forestier
Thomas Langmann

Writers:

René Goscinny (comic book) &
Albert Uderzo (comic book) ...

Release Date:

25 January 2008 (Poland)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Plot Keywords:

Sequel | Julius Caesar | Potion | Olympic Games | Druid

Cast

Gérard Depardieu	...	Obélix
Clovis Cornillac	...	Astérix
Benoît Poelvoorde	...	Brutus
Alain Delon	...	Jules Cesar
Vanessa Hessler	...	Princesse Irina
Franck Dubosc	...	Assurancetourix
José Garcia	...	Couverdepus
Stéphane Rousseau	...	Alafolix
Jean-Pierre Cassel	...	Panoramix
Elie Semoun	...	Omega
Alexandre Astier	...	Mordicus
Santiago Segura	...	Docteurmabus
Michael Herbig	...	Pasunmotdeplus (as Michael Bully Herbig)
Bouli Lanners	...	Samagas
Jérôme Le Banner	...	Claudius Cornedurus (as Jerôme Le Banner)

Also Known As:

Asterix alle olimpiadi (Italy)
Asterix at the Olympic Games (International: English title)
Asterix bei den Olympischen Spielen (Germany)
Asterix en los juegos olímpicos (Spain)
Asterix på olympiaden (Finland: Swedish title) (Sweden) [sv]
Астерикс на Олимпийских играх (Russia) [ru]
Astérix nos Jogos Olímpicos (Portugal) [pt]
Asteriks olimpiyat oyunlari'nda (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Asterix en los juegos olímpicos (Argentina) [es]
Asterix na Olimpijskim igrama (Croatia) [hr]
Asterix na olimpiadzie (Poland) [pl]
Asterix nos Jogos Olímpicos (Brazil) [pt]
Asterix og de olympiske lege (Denmark) [da]
Asterix olympialaisissa (Finland) [fi]
O Asterix stous olympiakous agones (Greece) [el]

Runtime:

116 min

Country:

France | Germany | Spain | Italy | Belgium

Language:

French | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | Spain:T | Finland:K-7 | Portugal:M/6 | Germany:6 | Sweden:Btl | Australia:PG | South Korea:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Ciudad de la Luz, Alicante, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Company:

Pathé Renn Productions

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Speaking of Brutus, Cesar mentions the seven plagues of Egypt. There were ten plagues.

Movie Connections:

References Le clan des Siciliens (1969)

Inexplicably terrible followup to Cleopatra

I was really looking forwards to this: Whereas "Asterix & Cesar" wasn't great, they seemed to have found their stride with "Asterix et Cleopater" only to inexplicably throw it all away with this heap of rubbish. Where shall I start: The cast.

Clovis Cornillac - catastrophic. There isn't a hint of the quick wittedness and light footedness you expect of Asterix. Instead of being the mainstay of the film, he's a sideshow: Unfunny, uncharismatic. Bring back Clavier!

Alain Delon? I nearly wept! He's an all time legend. Cool, hard, dangerous. And here? A creepy buffoon. His worst role. Ever.

That's enough. Now the plot: In Asterix & Cleopatre, the writers (and director) managed to update the Goscinny original comic spirit and clever references very successfully in my opinion. That is, without sacrificing the flow of the narrative, and without over-emphasizing modern references. That is, they didn't get in the way nor did they hobble the Goscinny narrative.

These clowns seem to have completely missed the plot. The unsubtle references stick out like a sore thumb, and the things referred to will all be forgotten in a few years.

But more fatally for the plot: they've glued together episodes from different Asterix books with elaborate pastiches to try and re-establish some sort of story logic.

Then, they have seriously warped the actual olympic games narrative flow. The plot they've come up with leaves you constantly thinking "What? How ... why is this happening now? Where is such-and-such gone?" and most importantly "hmm, was that joke supposed to be ... funny?".

All in all, truly catastrophic. The only saving grace is - I supposed toddlers might find it exciting.