"Astérix: Le domaine des dieux" or "Asterix and Obelix: Mansion of the Gods" is a co-production between Belgium and France from 2014, so this movie is also already comfortably over half a decade old now. It is of course in the French language as you may have guessed from the title and the production countries. And you can read the name of the protagonist in the title as well. This is a tradition they kept from the old(er) Asterix movies where even if Asterix was not necessarily at the very center of the story, he was always named first in the title. Here he is more at the center of the story than in some of these films. I am of course referring to the old animated/cartoon movies because this one here is also animated and it is not one of those live action films starring Depardieu. The animation style is entirely different though compared to the old films. I liked it nonetheless this modern take. With the way the characters look in here I am not surprised to see that one of the two writers and directors worked on Pixar Hollywood films because the characters here do look a bit as if they could also exist in Up, one of the films he worked on. Other than that, I have not more to say about Clichy and Astier really, but I believe they did a decent job here. Oh yes they also voiced minor characters both of them and returned for the sequel. That one I saw at the movie theater. At the core, this one here is of course still based on the books by Goscinny and Uderzo and on one book in particular, another tradition they kept from the old days of Asterix cartoons, even if here and there they even turned two books into a movie or even made one film (my favorite) that was based on the story of Hercules and not on the books. But this is not a problem here at all. The adaptations feels smooth and it seems that with the stuff they added it is certainly enough for one single movie. This movie by the way runs for a bit under 1.5 hours, which may not sound a lot, but is still longer (much longer actually with some) than the old films. But nothing unexpected either as 75-minute films are really a rarity in the 21st century.
I kinda wonder how Uderzo liked the outcome here and he was still alive back then as he died fairly recently. Same applies to Carel who already voiced Asterix in the old movie and at a really old age was still enough of an institution to come back for this one here. With the next Asterix film they will inevitably make at some point, it's gonna be quite a challenge for the voice actor of the title character to be a worthy successor of Carel. I cannot talk a lot more about the voice acting here because I watched the German dub. For Asterix and Obelix they got two fairly known actors. Asterix was voiced by Milan Peschel and he is okay as long as he does not show up in trashy Schweighöfer comedies and Obelix is voiced by Charly Hübner and him I like quite a bit. With these two, I would not be surprised if their casting has something to do with their physicality that resembles these two characters a bit, not that much though in terms of being small and being big. Or the hair colors either. The rest of the (German) voice cast members I cannot say anything about. At least they are no famous actor, maybe focus on voice acting in general, which is not meant derogatory in any way. Good for them they got in here with this pretty prestigious project. It already started nicely. I think the pretty spectacular animation sequence was a very nice watch, fast and funky, also the way the Romans were depicted with their shields, gets you right in the mood and this is what a modern take on old tales should look like. Okay, the actual name of the film and how they got it in from a sequence with Caesar felt a bit clumsy, but it was alright. Caesar is once again the main antagonist in here, but it still felt a bit different compared to the old films. There he was often more of a supervisor, even if he was the Roman leader, but rarely a true antagonist, more of an antagonist who is not scared of punishing the actual antagonists for their failures. But here he is really mad at times of course and ready to give it all to defeat the Gauls. This may have had to do partially also with how the story was told in the book. It's been really way too long since I read that one, so I cannot elaborate in detail there on parallels and differences.
As for the story, I think it was good, but I also think it could have been better. It sure is a modern take on the initial story that fits kinda nicely into the 21st century. Like how we know the Romans can bring their strongest forces or can bring thousands of soldiers and they will never manage to beat the Gauls. So it's time for a trick. Create a bit of a melting pot that indirectly forces the Gauls to becoming Romans themselves and have the village rather vanish instead of trying to destroy it. Maybe it would have been a wiser choice to keep going instead of trying to attack the village with brute force. This was still the moment where Asterix shone with his wit and smart mind as he pretended to still possess some magic potion and bring out fear in the Romans and the way it is depicted how his (former) fellow villagers help him with this plan was pretty hilarious and showed us that this is not really a film that wants to be taken seriously. Just good fun. There are weaknesses nonetheless. The little boy, I think Applejuice was his name for whatever reason, did absolutely nothing for me and could have been left out with his semi-emotional story. And Obelix was so underused here. At least he has his moment in the spotlight in the end when he comes with brute force (and some cake in his system) to the rescue, but it was still very underwhelming and he should have had more screen time. At least we (and the Romans) know now how to defeat him I guess and of course food is the key. His opening scene with the boar was fun though and I am glad the boar survived. A fish did not end up this lucky later on, but that one was already dead before the blad hit I suppose. Obelix still had probably the best moment of the movie comedy-wise when we see in his illusions how the romans are boars. That was hilarious and the only real laugh-out-loud moment for me here.
There are other fairly solid and entertaining inclusions. For example, I liked how it is compared to the world of modern wrestling that it is all staged at the very end almost when they talk about what show they are about to deliver. And I also liked that they got in many references from the old books and films. Take the constant brawling (they're at it already when our two heroes arrive), take the reference with the lions in the arena, take Idefix not being happy about falling trees etc. I could mention a lot more there, but you will recognize these anyway when you see them unless you are totally new to the works of Goscinny and Uderzo which I doubt. Oh this stuff witth the falling trees and how they are back up there so quickly was also entertaining. The anger from the little construction guy who was genuinely unlikable and the second antagonist next to Caesar, maybe even more unlikable with his massive mosaic that did not exactly reflect his physical reality. I was glad when it got destroyed and we also see a mosaic later on with our heroes on it. Or also fun when Obelix knocks the little fella up in the air very early on despite the difference in size. Perhaps I liked it that much too because the little man represented bureaucracy so well. Some nice writing there. Okay, what else? There are also more modern references about unions linked to slavery back then. A lot actually with this group of workers. The best and maybe the moment that makes one think the most was when the Roman fella says they are free and then tells them they have to pay rent though now and immediately offers them a job they accept. This was so absurdly close to reality that it's almost a bit sad. Certainly ironic in terms of how slavery still exists to some extent today. Only that the damage is often done from the psychological perspective and not the physical perspective. But let's not become too deep here. What does deserve a mention is that the Black fella, the leader of these slaves, in the end becomes a soldier himself and is punched away by Asterix. I have a feelin that today in 2021 they'd have a harder time to go through with this in terms of political correctness which is a bit sad actually from an artistic viewpoint.
Alright, I am getting closer to the end of my review I would say and that is pretty much it. Just recognized that one of the filmmakers' names here is not too different from Asterix himself with the x in his first name, first and last names starting with an A and actually the last name even starting with Ast. Oh yes, the really untalented singer is also in this film of course and he is actually a bit of a hero (okay not really) here as he follows Asterix and Obelix out of the village right away. But he gets shut down every time again too when he tries to sing. Some of the Gauls women are depicted in charge here again, which every metoo supporter will love, but I found it tolerable, even if the little boy did nothing for me and as a consequence also how the boss' wife helps him and gets him some soup. Funny moments on the other hand includes the fighting between the blacksmith and fish vendor again and the references about foul fish get me every time. Tourist items (Vercingetorix) reminded me of fake pieces of the German Wall here. Saw those being sold back then, shameful stuff. Oh yes and these two brawlers also are in peaceful coexistence for once when they enjoy the warm thermae and how the little old guy was not too happy about them exposing themselves was also funny. Even a bit on the politically incorrect side, which I generally enjoy. Overall, no hesitation for me in giving this film a thumbs-up. It's good enough and so is the sequel. Give both a chance.
