Astérix et Obélix contre César
Director: Claude Zidi
Starring: Christian Clavier, Gérard Depardieu,
Roberto Benigni
Company: AMLF, Lions Gate
Year: 1999

Astérix et Obélix contre César is a period piece of sorts, set around the time of Julius Caesar’s reign. Caesar has been successful in conquering much of Europe at this point, and has become fairly full of himself as a result, going so far as to throwing himself a congratulatory party in his honor. However, his celebrating is a little pre-emptive, as one village in the country of Gaul (present day France. See, you’re learning things already!) has been holding off the whole Roman army single-handedly. Caesar sends his second-in-command, Lucius Detritus (Roberto Benigni) to find out what the problem is. After speaking with Crismus Bonus (wokka wokka), the nearby garrison’s commander, Detritus discovers that the village employs a druid that concocts a magic potion, one that can temporarily bestow amazing super-human strength to whomever drinks it. We are also introduced to our heroes, the diminutive Asterix (Christian Clavier) and his dim-witted yet good-natured friend Obelix (Gérard Depardieu), as well as the various members of the village, including the stunning Falbala and Panoramix the Druid.

What follows are three fairly distinct mini stories about Asterix, Obelix, and their adventures against the Romans. First, Crismus Bonus mounts an unsuccessful attack against the village, and it is here we first see the full power of the magic potion. Asterix and Obelix send the entire garrison flying back to their home base in an impressive display of strength. Obelix does so unaided by the potion, as he naturally has super-strength due to an event not covered by the film (Or maybe it is. I’ll be honest, I’m pretty decent at understanding French, but the actors were speaking so fast I only caught about 25% of what was said). The second segment deals with a fake fortune teller infiltrating the village in order to steal a newly-acquired treasure chest full of Roman gold pieces. Asterix sees through the soothsayer’s charade, but is drugged and duped into believing the residents of the village are Roman soldiers, all so the can have a distraction while escaping with the loot. The final section deals with the abduction of Panoramix, Detritus’ overthrowing of Caesar, Asterix’ capture, Obelix’ induction into the Roman army, and a final battle between the Romans and a literal army of Asterix and Obelix duplicates.