50 B.C. A coup takes place in China, causing Princess Xuan Di, the emperor’s only daughter, to flee to Gaul, where she asks Asterix and Obelix to help free her country. They leave for China, unaware that Julius Caesar is heading there as well.

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Guys, why are you all so… А?!.. Why such low ratings and poor reviews?! HUH?!?

It’s a first class sleeping pill!

And you and the fifth Asterix are so… Oh…

No, honestly – now I totally understand why the movie is so weak in its evaluations! (spoiler: I saw this movie!)… By the way, I had my doubts even before the film’s release: the eternal symbol of the long-lasting franchise the famous Depardieu was removed, the main actor was made the director (like an unbreakable bottle against the ship – ‘be in trouble!’), they changed basically everyone, even the minor characters, the trailer with horrible music and uninteresting inserts just finished off in the feeling that trouble was coming… In fact, that’s how it turned out…

Certainly, we can praise a bit the unusual colorful vivid picture of the film (visuals), we can note the incomparable and maybe even the best acting of the characters in all 5 films by Vincent Cassel (his Caesar is just PERFECT! ), José García – the scrooge-writer, Ramsay – the Arab uncle, Jerome Commander – the village chief, as well as the incomparable (unmistakably identifiable by his trademark facial expressions and gestures, despite his solid age and makeup) Pierre Richard and a splash of Marion Cotillard… And, of course, let’s not forget about a spectacular performance by Ibra, a not bad Asterix by Guillaume Canet, and a rather successful substitute for the Great Depardieu – in the person of a worthy successor Gilles Lelouch. And… the beautiful musical title theme can also be noted… And also the first flashback in the whole franchise to a distant childhood… And actually… THIS IS IT! For almost the entire 2 hours!!!

Humor? It actually doesn’t smell like it – just a couple of moments will help make you smile a little…

The plot – it’s not really there either… I guess it fits into two or three sentences called: a trip to China and what-have-you in China + a slice of the countryside.

The world-famous two Gauls – is this really about them?! After the whole film, you get the feeling that they’ve been forgotten about and that they’re just there for the background…

Nothing could be said about the depth of the characters…

The setting of the main characters and their silent moody captivity lead you into a deep shock, considering that the all-powerful Obelix alone could kill all the troops and lift the siege, but in this part there’s this… stupidity…

There’s a lot of dialogue in the movie, but it’s only good if it makes you laugh – and here it doesn’t make you laugh. It was a really depressing spectacle… Alas and Ah… There seems to be something going on… Someone is going somewhere and someone is fighting, but I, the viewer, don’t give a damn, considering I’m a fan of this franchise and have always watched all the films with interest, even though their quality has been declining and declining… And now it has… Downgraded… It’s unfortunate…

One more thing. If the first films were characterized by a pleasant scale, a lot of interesting places and a sense of some grandeur of the picture, here half of the film is like filmed either in pavilions or in built-up small locations – which is kind of subconsciously depressing too…

Bottom line

The gorgeous Vincent Cassel (the best Caesar of them all!), the dignified Gilles Lelouche, the killer Ibra, and the always heartwarming Pierre Richard are just some of the few bright things in the film…

…because it’s so dull and boring… It’s more boring than a modern big-porn action movie with Bruce Willis…

Info Blu-ray
Video
Codec: HEVC / H.265 (80.0 Mb/s)
Resolution: Native 4K (2160p)
HDR: Dolby Vision, HDR10
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1

Audio
French: Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French: Dolby Digital Plus 5.1

Subtitles
English SDH, Danish, Finnish, French SDH, Norwegian, Portuguese (Brazilian) SDH, Spanish SDH, Swedish