(courtesy IMP Awards)
One thing that struck me, even as a kid when I first came across the Asterix (Astérix or Astérix le Gaulois) series of stories courtesy of my very progressive, globally conscious local country town library, was how fun the creators writer René Goscinny (1959–1977)/Albert Uderzo (1980–2009) and artist Albert Uderzo (1959–2009) had with their plucky Gaul, Asterix, his BFF Obelix and their village staring down the might of Imperial Rome.
The very idea underpinning the series was fun enough – that one lone village in all of Gaul stood fast against Roman colonisation thanks to a magic potion brewed by their druid, Getafix (the names were a giggle and a hoot too!) which imbued everyone in the village with superhuman strength, much to the chagrin of the legionnaires at the fortified Roman camps of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium.
But even beyond that cool nugget of a subversive idea, that you could stand up against a power greater than your own thanks to a magical brew, was the impish sense of fun that saw every one of the characters, whether through their names or their hilarious quips and oneliners, almost acting as a stand-up comedian in their own right.
The stories were a ton of fun to read and when you’re a kid, especially one beleaguered by neverending bullying, that kind of mischievous storytelling is an absolute godsend and a funny bone-stirring antidote to a lot of very serious stuff.
The good news is that Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight, a five-part animated series based on the 1966 story, Asterix and the Big Fight aka The Battle of the Chieftains (Le Combat des Chefs), captures that spirit sense of the seriously nonsensical that pervaded the original series of stories.
From the first brilliantly animated scene through to the final feast scene where our heroes, who naturally emerge victorious as they always do, Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight is good old guffaw-inducing fun brought to life by some very impressive 3D animation.
It has everything you’d expect from Asterix – staunch friendship, clever place names, hilarious names and a real intelligence which makes some rather pithy observations about the destructive ability of colonialism to leave the world a boring, culturally monochromatic place.
While the messaging is clear, Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight makes sure it sits very easily and neatly along the hilarity which extends to scenes which play on Roman numerology, attitudes and the self-serving propensity of some of the colonised to embrace their conquerors with obsequious eagerness.
The series happily updates the 60-year-old storyline so it includes references to modern media coverage, pop stars (the songs are all up-to-date and perfect accompaniments to the story) and current affairs, with some rather timely insights on the nature of authoritarian rule.
Asterix as a series does a deft job of being silly and serious in one hugely entertaining and elegant whole, and this animated series is no different, serving up great characters, a seamlessly funny but pointed narrative and restoring the old sense of fun that made the classic stories so much fun to read … and now watch.
Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight streams on Netflix.
FUN CLIPS
Where the trouble began …
… and what it led to …