Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire, the great French blockbuster from the start of the year is available in cinemas in France. Highly anticipated, Guillaume Canet’s film does not seem to have convinced most critics.
[Mis à jour le 1er février 2023 à 12h15] During much of the promotional phase of Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire, Guillaume Canet called on viewers to return to theaters to support his blockbuster project. It must be said that the stakes are enormous for this comedy of adventures which, according to Variety, cost no less than 65 million euros (a budget similar to previous episodes of Asterix). According to the director, the success of his film is expected at the turn. “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.” It is still necessary, of course, to offer a film that will please the public but also, to a lesser extent, the critics. The press has largely delivered its criticisms of Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Kingdom. Here is our press review of the reviews of Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire!
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“All is not successful” announces Premiere
The cinephile magazine First 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 essential equipment (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.”
“A peak of old-fashionedness” for Large Screen
With the rating of 1 star out of 5 possible, Widescreen clearly did not appreciate this new version of Asterix in the cinema, which is described here as “a summit 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 Obélix proposal was appreciated by Ecran Large but “theThe 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.”
The “a little disillusioned” criticism of Le Monde
In the columns of World, 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.”
“A beautiful eulogy of friendship” for Le Figaro
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.” In what concerns Guillaume Canet’s Asterix, “iHe has neither the trickery of Christian Clavier, nor the energy of Clovis Cornillac, nor the eloquence of Édouard Baer. He is an ordinary, restless Gaul. Perfect alter ego of the Frenchman of the 2020s, inhabitant of a world in crisis.” The film is, according to Le Figaro which rates it 2.5/4, “under a blockbuster look, a beautiful eulogy of friendship.”
A formula “that makes pschitt” according to Le Parisien
In his review, The Parisian explains that Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire “lacks rhythm and fantasy” despite its original scenario “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.
“Better tied than Asterix at the Olympic Games” for Les Echos
The echoes 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. “Suite 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, he lacks two or three very good gags, a few truly memorable bursts of laughter, to reach the level of Alain Chabat’s “Mission Cleopatra”.
“A predictable scenario” according to Le Point
In his review, 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”
“The duo works” according to France Info
In the columns of the website of France Info, we can read a review that compares, as viewers of the film will no doubt do, The Middle Kingdom to the 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.”
For its first screening at the French box office at 9 a.m. at the UGC des Halles, Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire attracted 96 curious people. This traditional screening is often scrutinized because it takes place in the cinema generating the most admissions in France and Europe. 96 admissions for Guillaume Canet’s film is quite respectable. Note all the same that, this year, Babylon beat it with 104 admissions on this same slot on January 18th. By way of comparison, Avatar 2 had attracted 254 spectators over two sessions at 9 a.m. in Les Halles. We are of course awaiting the first figures in Paris and the outskirts which will give a better overview of the launch of the film before the first day of box office to come.
Note that the box office of Asterix and Obelix and the Middle Empire will also determine whether Guillaume Canet obtains a bonus on receipts. According to L’informé, the director has already been paid €500,000 for his status as screenwriter and director (his acting fee is not revealed but is included in the overall check for €6.6 million). euros allocated to all distribution). According to the media, Guillaume Canet will receive 0.3% of the price of the ticket excluding taxes (half as director, and the other half as co-screenwriter.” He should then receive “0.69€ additional per place sold” once the film has generated between 1 and 3 million admissions. Finally, a gross bonus of one million euros is planned “if the film exceeds 7 million spectators in France and/or if it is amortized”. Finally, according to Marianne, another bonus is planned “if the film is a hit abroad”. It would be calculated at €900,000 gross “for 5 million tickets sold”.