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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Everything but the kitchen sinks!, April 9, 2010
This review is from: Asterix At The Olympic Games /Asterix et Obelix aux jeux olympiques (DVD)
Asterix and Obelix take a back seat in this CGI extravaganza that leaves one wanting less. Much less.
Clovis Cornillac regretably replaces Christian Clavier as Asterix, but no one notices since the little Gaul warrior barely has a line or two. Most of the time you get lots of hammy French comedians in self-fashioned roles trying desperately to outslap each other to slumber. Movie legends Depardieu and Delon spoof their past glories (Cyrano, The Sicilian Clan) in order to deliver something -anything- to this tepid pot. Even Idefix (Dogmatix) looks apathic.
Sports superstars Michael Schumacher, Zinedine Zidane and Tony Parker look barely bemused themselves, and supermodels Vanessa Hessler and Adriana Karembeu have a hard time trying to fill Monica Belluci's sandals. Unfortunately, she appeared in the previous movie, not this one. Jamel Debbouze returns in a late cameo as Numerobis (Edifis) to squezze a last smirk from the audience, making the final five minutes a masterclass on how NOT to wrap a show EVER!
Sadly, this was to be Jean-Pierre Cassel's last film. Lucky for him, he played Panoramix (Getafix) under such a Gandalfic beard, his career remains untarnished.
Bottomline: skip it. Read the comic book instead.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Bit of a Let Down When You Consider How Good Mission Cleopatra Was!, August 6, 2009
This review is from: Asterix At The Olympic Games /Asterix et Obelix aux jeux olympiques (DVD)
The third Asterix comic brought to the big screen, Asterix at the Olympic games is no where near the quality of the first two. I guess the actor who played Asterix so well in the first two movies took a look at the script and said, that doesn't do Asterix or the other characters justice, go back and rewrite it before I'll do it. Instead of doing this sensible thing, they just go a different actor and made the film from the average script they had. The new Asterix actor doesn't do as a good a job as his predecessor but to be fair to him he didn't have many lines or scenes to show what he could do. Asterix is hardly in this movie at all, Obelix has about double his amount of time (same actor as other two films) but there's still not much footage of either of them. Nor really the rest of the Gauls.
The plot of this one revolves around Brutus and his constant attempts to murder Julius Caesar but instead getting the food tester, mirror tester, bath tester and every other method tester (that joke does get old real fast). Brutus is also trying to win the Olympic games so he can wed the Greek rulers daughter. Why are Asterix and Obelix even there, well Lovesix a Gaul from the village also loves the Greek beauty, and she loves Lovesix's poetry (those who have read the comic books as a kid know who really wrote these poems). So the Gauls are there to help Lovesix win the Olympics and her hand in marriage. Of course Brutus and the Romans aren't opposed to cheating, nor are the Gauls at first until they realise their usual performance enhancing drug (magic potion taking) isn't looked favourably at the Olympics.
The ending to the games from the comic Asterix at the Olympic Games is the same in the movie, at least the film has that. Incidentally there's also a few jokes and scenes from other Asterix comic books thrown in as well. A boring Greek feast scene at the end extends the film for ten minutes but just revolves around the invention of the soccer and basketball. The use of these ten minutes with scenes with Asterix and Obelix or even other Gauls in their village at the start of the film would have been better.
The first film ASTERIX & OBELIX Versus CAESAR and the second (which was an absolute masterpiece) Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra were much more entertaining than this one.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Ave Moi", December 28, 2008
This review is from: Asterix At The Olympic Games /Asterix et Obelix aux jeux olympiques (DVD)
An outstanding comedy, Asterix at the Olympic Games, is the third film (after Asterix and Obelix versus Caesar and Asterix and Obelix: Mission Cleopatra) based on the ever popular French comics. The two Gauls, Asterix and Obelix head to Greece in order to accompany one of their own whose victory at the Games will mean marrying his beloved Greek princess. Roman Emperor Julius Caesar' stepson, Brutus, however, has his own eyes set on victory for he too aims to wed the Greek princess.
The film moves away from the original 1968 plot and includes elements from other Asterix stories as well as entirely new elements.
Gerard Depardieu, Vanessa Hesler (who is GORGEOUS!), Clovis Cornillac, Benoit Poelvoerde, Alain Delon, and the rest of the cast, have carried out their performances well. Watch out for cameo appearances by Michael Schumacher, Adriana Sklenarikova, Zinedine Zidane, and others. Very well written and very well presented, the movie is without a doubt guaranteed to provide for an evening's entertainment.
On the down side one does not get the impression that Asterix is the protagonist as his role in the film is rather limited. Moreover, with each movie a significant number of actors portraying characters from Julius Caesar to Panoramix and others change and thus take away from that sense of continuity and familiarity.
Nevertheless, the setting, the plot, the dialogues, the humor, the special effects (!!!) and the music are all wonderful!
In short, Asterix and Obelix at the Olympic Games is a movie definitely worth watching and one to seriously consider adding to your movie collection!
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