Some of the comic opportunities of the original books get missed, but in its favour it’s extremely well directed by Laurent Tirard (Moliere, Le Petit Nicolas), who can blend dry wit and slapstick with surprising finesse and subtlety that’s at times reminiscent of Blake Edwards at his best.
While this does offer a few smiles after Valerie Lemercier’s governess indoctrinates Danny Boon’s Norman with etiquette lessons (bizarrely administered in the style of A Clockwork Orange’s Ludivico Treatment), it doesn’t really go anywhere and, were it to be cut out of the film, you’d never know it was gone (as it is, the payoff to the subplot hit the deleted scenes bin on the Bluray). Nor does the inclusion of Norman mercenaries in a subplot that sees them agreeing to fight for Caesar because they want to learn fear because fear gives you wings and they want to learn to fly.
While the likes of Jean Rochefort, Gerard Jugnot and Michel Duchaussoy have middling cameos to appeal to the oldies, the Gauls are saddled with Vincent Lacoste as the chief’s feckless nephew who seems to have been dropped in solely to appeal to the younger crowd despite being an unappealing slacker who doesn’t really contribute anything to proceedings. It’s a fun outing that has a field day with cultural stereotypes (and offers some impressive English accents from the French cast), though not without its problems. Accompanied by decent British sort Jolitorax (Guillaume Galliene) they face Cesar’s legions – who are beating the British by unsportingly only attacking at teatime - bizarre local customs and British understatement, with Asterix finding his chat up technique doesn’t work with British women while Obelix finds true love and Caesar becomes more quietly neurotic by the reel. Gerard Depardieu returns as Obelix, the role he was born to play, with Edouard Baer replacing Christian Clavier and Clovis Cornillac from the previous films as Asterix in a lavish adaptation of Asterix in Britain and, rather unnecessarily, Asterix and the Normans that sees our heroes on a mission to deliver a barrel of the magic potion that has kept Caesar (Fabrice Lucini) from conquering their village to the besieged Queen of England (Catherine Deneuve, putting her icy detachment to good comic use). While it’s not up to the standard of Asterix e Obelix: Mission Cleopatre, the best of the series by far, it is genuinely funny for much of its running time and puts its two indomitable Gauls right at the centre of the action after sidelining them with little to do on their last outing. The French Blus of The 12 Tasks of Asterix and Asterix et Obelix: Au Service de sa Majeste both have English subtitles:Īfter the spectacular but not very good Asterix at the Olympic Games, the French live action Asterix franchise gets back on track with Asterix et Obelix: Au Service de sa Majeste even if it is now on its third Asterix in only four films.
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