A review: Astérix: Le domaine des dieux

The year? 50 BC. The region? Gaul. Surrounded by four Roman military camps lies a tiny nameless village untouched by the expanding Roman empire. Their secret? An endless supply of the magical potion that makes them seemingly invincible. Thanks to the druid Miraculix they can go about their business as usual; hunting wild boars and “discussing” the freshness of the fish (i.e. just fighting in general). However, César has grown tired of their constant defiance. In hiring a young architect to surround the village with Roman buildings, he's abandoned force for indoctrination. So sure that this will make the Gauls surrender to him once and for all, he's forgotten to take Astérix and Obelix into consideration.

I grew up with the adventures of Astérix and Obelix and I feel that this movie really succeeds in recreating the charm I remember. Being young when I read the comic books, I was more in love with the characters than anything else (honestly – most of the content went right over my head) and to my delight the animators have kept the varying body shapes that I remember loving so much. This means that all the nationalities presented come in various sizes. Most of the focus of the animation itself has gone into character details such as Obelix's velvet bows or Astérix's slimy cheek (because he's been struck by a fish) and since this movie is so heavily centered around the people, I don't miss any elaborate backgrounds. Some of the more action-packed scenes even feel like copies straight from the comic books and, being a big fan of that type of physical comedy, I giggle my way through most of it.

I fully understand why today's animation is made for both adults and children and I appreciate the step in that direction, but I find myself repeatedly wishing for a movie made only for grown ups. For the ones of us who like animation but dislike anime. Such a movie would mean I could avoid the suffering I go through when Le domaine des dieux suddenly transforms Obelix into King Kong. I'm sure the kids love it and it does turn the action up several notches, but to me - who's always admired Obelix more than Astérix, it feels like a blasphemy. The smart, thin Astérix is already portrayed as the leader of the dumb, fat Obelix. To turn him into a food-obsessed monster as well only further increases the detrimental message that fat people are meant to follow and lack all forms of self-control.   

© 2014 les Éditions Albert René / Goscinny Uderzo © 2014, M6 Studio, Belvision, M6 Films et SNC.
All Rights Reserved.

Used with permission.