I don't pretend to be a huge Asterix fan, having only seen one other movie adaption and read only two of the comics, but this was a superb movie, all the same. I only saw the English version, and found the voices to go perfectly with the characters - Brad Garret as Obelix and Sean Astin as Justforkix especially. The story itself was both interesting and truly funny (especially the contradicting name endings - all the viking names end in "af", while all the Gaulish names, of course, end in "ix"), with a little romance thrown in that (I though) enhanced the story, even though it weighed down the overall production with unnecessary clichés.
The plot is this - the Viking chief, Timandahaf, is sick and tired of going to raid villages and then finding them emptied. So, he consults his "wise man", Cryptograf, whose entire repertoire consists of old proverbs, and Cryptograf tells him that "fear lends the villagers wings". Taking this literally, Timandahaf believes that fear actually allows people to fly, and sets out on an expedition to retrieve the "Champion of Fear", an expedition that, of course, leads him to the Gaulish village where Asterix and Obelix live.
The pair are currently very frustrated - Chief Vitalstatistix's cowardly, pacifist nephew, Justforkix, has been entrusted to them so they can train him to be a man, and the boy is making little to no progress. When Justforkix unwittingly confesses to being "afraid of everything" in the presence of the brainless viking Olaf, he is believed to be the "Champion of Fear", and is kidnapped. Asterix and Obelix are sent by Vitalstatistix to go rescue Justforkix before his father returns to the village to bring his son back home.
Ultimately, this is a great movie with few flaws besides the clichés and, at times, defective dialogs. I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the fact that it wasn't true to the comic.
The plot is this - the Viking chief, Timandahaf, is sick and tired of going to raid villages and then finding them emptied. So, he consults his "wise man", Cryptograf, whose entire repertoire consists of old proverbs, and Cryptograf tells him that "fear lends the villagers wings". Taking this literally, Timandahaf believes that fear actually allows people to fly, and sets out on an expedition to retrieve the "Champion of Fear", an expedition that, of course, leads him to the Gaulish village where Asterix and Obelix live.
The pair are currently very frustrated - Chief Vitalstatistix's cowardly, pacifist nephew, Justforkix, has been entrusted to them so they can train him to be a man, and the boy is making little to no progress. When Justforkix unwittingly confesses to being "afraid of everything" in the presence of the brainless viking Olaf, he is believed to be the "Champion of Fear", and is kidnapped. Asterix and Obelix are sent by Vitalstatistix to go rescue Justforkix before his father returns to the village to bring his son back home.
Ultimately, this is a great movie with few flaws besides the clichés and, at times, defective dialogs. I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite the fact that it wasn't true to the comic.