” Asterix and Obelix. The Middle Kingdom”, tender Gauls

Asterix and Obelix. The middle Empire **

by Guillaume Canet

French film, 1 h 54

And five! Since Asterix and Obelix against Caesar by Claude Zidi in 1999, the cinema regularly takes over the characters created by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo. But after the success of this first opus in real shots (9 million spectators) and especially of Asterix and Obelix. Mission Cléopâtre by Alain Chabat (2002, 14.5 million), the irreducible Gauls attract fewer and fewer diehard French people in dark rooms, down to 3.8 million for Asterix and Obelix. Au service de Sa Majesté by Laurent Tirard (2012) – a poor result considering the 60 million euros invested.

Guillaume Canet therefore has the mission of bringing a large audience back to theaters who have not completely reconnected with cinema since the confinements, with for the first time an original scenario, not taken from an album. Graindemaïs, a Phoenician merchant, accompanied by Princess Fu Yi, the only daughter of the Empress of China, and her faithful protector Tat Han implore the inhabitants of the Gallic village of Armorica to help them drive out the traitor Deng Tsin Quin who has imprisoned the Empress. After a refusal from the chief Abraracourcix who is annoyed by these influxes of foreigners always in demand of support, it is (unsurprisingly) Asterix and Obelix who stick to it and spin towards the Middle Kingdom with the trio.

A renewed cast of stars

Guillaume Canet happily revisits the essentials (puns on names, fights with the Romans and pirates, nods to our time, etc.), while accentuating the epic dimension of an exotic tale. He redistributes the cards of the usual casting of stars with in particular Vincent Cassel in a César surprisingly resembling the drawings of Uderzo, Marion Cotillard in Cleopatra and interpreting Asterix himself. Excellent surprise, Gilles Lellouche naturally slipped into the role of Obélix, with his mixture of superhuman strength and childlike candor, to the point of making Gérard Depardieu forget who had played him since 1999. He gives him a welcome tenderness in this film focuses on the relationship of the two heroes, in love with beautiful Chinese women, who wonder (a theme dear to Guillaume Canet) about the meaning of friendship.

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