The way I saw it, Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion works on several levels – much like a Pixar movie. Watching the film in English as a French national is an interesting experience. “This was a film first and foremost for people who know Asterix and speak French.” The film, he says, assumes some knowledge of the Asterix franchise, though Clichy took care to remind the audience of its most basic elements (resolute Gauls resist Roman invaders thanks to their druid’s magic potion, which brings them superhuman strength). “We’re very chauvinistic,” Clichy says in his native French. But on the other hand, the movie’s creators were unwilling to strip the Asterix franchise of its Frenchness – even if that meant some references would elude international viewers. On the one hand, it seemed important to make sure the story made sense to an international audience.
#Asterix and the secret of the magic potion movie#
For Louis Clichy, who co-directed the movie with French filmmaker Alexandre Astier, the idea of bringing Asterix’s story outside of the confines of the Hexagon (as France is lovingly known to its own nationals) is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion, the latest animated film to document the adventures of the famous Gaul, is now out in cinemas in the UK, almost nine months after its debut in France.
Meanwhile, a promising thread involving a smart, resourceful village girl named Pectin (Fleur Delahunty) is inexplicably left dangling.One of the most patently French characters ever created is heading abroad – again. Even the burly but sensitive Obelix (Harth) - most fans’ favourite - hardly features, with more attention mystifyingly given to self-important fishmonger Unhygienix (Jason Simpson), who tries to make his own magic potion, and bland bad guy Demonix (Mike Shepherd), who’s long harboured a grudge against Getafix. The film’s title hero Asterix (Kramer) is barely in it, bimbling around the sidelines until a clumsily conceived flounce sees him storming off, only to spend the next several scenes tied to a tree. Getafix dominates the running time, yet undergoes no further development as a character. However, from there it descends into a frustratingly patchy, irritatingly hyperactive, mostly directionless episodic scramble. To be fair, it asks questions that may have lurked at the back of many a young mind while ploughing happily through the Asterix oeuvre: why doesn’t Getafix (Innes) simply give the rest of the Gauls his ultra-energising brew? Why doesn’t he share his recipe? What happens when he dies? These posers form an encouraging starting point, the movie opening with the sprightly druid tumbling from a tree - something druids never do, apparently - and being painfully reminded of his mortality. A frustratingly patchy, irritatingly hyperactive, mostly directionless episodic scramble.
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