ASTERIX AND OBELIX 2023. The press has made its opinion on Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom and it is, at best, mixed. We take stock in our review of the film’s reviews.
[Updated Feb 3, 2023 3:38 PM] Can Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Kingdom be counted on to become the big box office hit of early 2023? This is a question that many market observers are asking themselves at a time when Guillaume Canet’s film is starting its run in France. The film, directed and co-scripted by Guillaume Canet who also embodies the Gaul with the winged helmet, must garner a minimum of 5 million admissions to avoid failure. Its producers hope for much more, that’s for sure. Criticism seems relatively mixed concerning this new Asterix, but it should all the same be made clear that, for this kind of film, it is above all the public who is the great kingmaker. Indeed, the great comedies such as this Asterix and Obelix are thought to become the queens of the box office. If the criticism is not particularly decisive as to their success (we think of What did we do to the Good Lord for example), word of mouth is essential for maintaining them in theaters of these movies.
The economic stakes are high, of course, and Guillaume Canet kept repeating this throughout the promotion phase of his film. The director of Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire is well aware that his film must bring people together. According to Variety, the feature film cost no less than 65 million euros (a budget in all respects similar to previous episodes of the saga). For the filmmaker, the success of his feature film could restore color to French cinema. “It’s very important that the cinema picks up again, that films like this can generate enthusiasm and make people want to go back to the cinema.” To create a success of this magnitude, however, it will be necessary to convince the public and generate engaging word of mouth.
Of course, many critics make the comparison between The Middle Empire and the other episodes of Asterix and Obelix in the cinema. If most of the articles are quite convinced by Gilles Lellouche’s performance as Obelix, this is less the case with that of Guillaume Canet as Asterix. The film’s script is also strongly criticized as well as its apparent deluge of stars. The various reviews that we have been able to compile are either relatively mixed or downright murderous. Here is our press review of the reviews of Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire!
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The cinephile magazine Première praises the fact that The Empire of the Middle did not choose the same path as the previous Asterix films: “it does not adapt an existing album and prefers to appropriate the places to keep only the equipment essential (fights, banquets, pirates and Julius Caesar)”. However, “everything is not successful (the kung-fu fights, the parade of accessory stars, from Angèle to McFly and Carlito, the strange sluggishness of certain scenes)”. Guillaume Canet also chooses “to put the figure of Asterix and Obelix back at the heart of the story” unlike his predecessors, which allows him to create a “more personal” but also “more human” film, which ” prevents it from collapsing under its digital deluge.”
With the rating of 1 star out of 5 possible, Large Screen clearly did not appreciate this new version of Asterix in the cinema, which is described here as “a peak of mediocrity laid by boomers”. The website criticizes, for example, the many uninteresting cameos but also the script of the film “both too much and not enough written” as well as the staging and “its static camera which agrees with the little latitude given to the film. ‘improvisation”. Gilles Lellouche’s proposal as Obélix was appreciated by Ecran Large but “the rest of the cast is weighed down by a catastrophic direction of actors” especially Jonathan Cohen. In short, Asterix and Obelix: The Middle Kingdom is “never funny and poor in terms of manufacturing”. “A nice waste of money that constantly seems to be twenty years behind.”
In the columns of Le Monde, we can read a relatively mixed review about this new episode of the adventures of Asterix. Guillaume Canet’s film has for him that he takes us on a journey in this unprecedented adventure in China: “this new empire brings a change of scenery, epic breath to the story and new characters”. Likewise, the action scenes have fun between typically Chinese martial arts choreography and the joyous mess of Gallic fistfights. “The contrast has its small effect, to then be diluted in a succession of jokes (not always funny), sketches and anecdotal scenes which distribute to each star his little piece of score.” On this subject, “the actors do what they can to give credibility to their disguise.” This is also the case of Guillaume Canet, who certainly directs but who also plays the title role: “under Asterix’s mustache, Guillaume Canet displays a disillusioned expression, which is painful to see.” And Le Monde concludes: “After the two hours spent watching the Romans fly, we look a bit like him.”
In his review, Le Figaro explains that Guillaume Canet “has fun pastiche Tiger and Dragon. Alongside this acrobatic kung-fu, the fight of the Gauls is getting old.” The interpretations of Asterix and Obelix are also hailed: “Lellouche brings a mixture of playfulness and candor to Obelix.” Regarding Guillaume Canet’s Asterix, “he has neither the trickery of Christian Clavier, nor the energy of Clovis Cornillac nor the eloquence of Édouard Baer. He is an ordinary and restless Gaul. Perfect alter ego of the Frenchman of the 2020s, living in a world in crisis.” The film is, according to Le Figaro which rates it 2.5/4, “under the guise of a blockbuster, a beautiful eulogy of friendship.”
In its review, Le Parisien explains that Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Kingdom “lacks rhythm and fantasy” despite its original script “but without relief” or even “winded.” Biggest problem for a comedy – adventure, yes, but comedy all the same – “We smile sometimes, but we never really laugh in this opus.” The references of Canet’s film seem “dated” here, especially in the 1980s. In the end, the Ile-de-France newspaper gives a score of 2.5/5 to this new opus.
Les Echos have published their review of Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire. The newspaper finds there “if not the brilliance, at least the tone of Goscinny and Uderzo” with a quite particular style “of piling up puns and reading the contemporary world in the mirror of a fantasized antiquity.” The comparison holds with the less good episodes of the saga but not with the best, namely Mission Cléopâtre by Alain Chabat. “A series of more or less wacky scenes, the whole thing turns out to be better put together than the catastrophic “Asterix at the Olympic Games” […] Unfortunately, it lacks two or three very good gags, a few truly memorable bursts of laughter , to reach the level of Alain Chabat’s “Cleopatra Mission”.
In its review, Le Point notes the difficulties encountered by the film Asterix by Guillaume Canet. The feature film “which unfortunately suffers from a predictable scenario, served by dialogues written on autopilot”. He is criticized for “a collage effect” and his tendency to chain “the skits where everyone does his number without worrying about the whole”. In the role of the little Gaul, Guillaume Canet “is not really comfortable in the sweet, crazy, invincible register of the character”. In addition, the film is punctuated with special effects deemed “little innovative” as well as “scenes already seen” especially in kung fu fights. Despite everything, the magazine ultimately judges that this Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire remains “honest entertainment”
In the columns of the France Info website, one can read a review that compares, as viewers of the film will no doubt do, The Middle Kingdom to previous Asterix films. France Info also notes that “Guillaume Canet draws from each of these predecessors” with an “endless list of cameos and appearances” as with Chabat. “Like Zidi, the duo works. The complicity between director Guillaume Canet and actor Gilles Lellouche is old.” The continuous news site also specifies that “the special effects are humble but without lack of taste.”
Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Kingdom got off to a very good start for its first day of operation at the French box office. Previews and cumulative first day, Guillaume Canet’s film has already generated 463,026 admissions, including 275,658 in previews. This is the best start for a French film for ten years. The feature film thus exceeds La Ch’tite Famille by Dany Boon for its launch. Projected on 950 screens from Wednesday February 1, this production can hope to reach its million admissions quickly with the approach of the winter holidays which start on Friday 3 for zone A.
It should be noted that Pathé, which distributes the film, did not choose the release date of Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire at random. February 1, 2023 is a date quite auspicious for the success of a French comedy blockbuster. The end of January / beginning of February of each year is also regularly chosen as the window of exposure for this kind of films which are intended to bring people together in dark rooms. For what ? Traditionally, big American films have been relatively absent from this niche. In addition, the proximity of school holidays is appreciated and reassures as to the attendance of family targets. This year zone A starts its holidays this Friday, February 3, so the timing is perfect. Finally, this niche has already shown, year after year with the successes in particular of comedies by Dany Boon or even Philippe Lacheau, that it is conducive to word-of-mouth success. Which act for Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire?