Netflix | 5 episodes, directed by Alain Chabat & Fabrice Joubert
Review by Luke Williams
When the village druid forgets how to prepare their magic potion, Asterix, Obelix and the Gauls must find new ways to keep the Roman conquerors at bay…
Over the past 20 years there have been a number of film treatments, both live action (Asterix and Obelix vs Caesar, Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra) and animated (Asterix Conquers America, Asterix & The Vikings, The Mansion of the Gods, Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion). René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo’s creation celebrates his 66th birthday in 2025 with another adaptation to film and TV, this time via the streaming service Netflix.
Asterix & Obelix and the Big Fight is based on the comic album of the same name. Caesar continues to be frustrated by the tiny village of indomitable Gauls who continue to hold out against his legions, made possible by Getafix’s magic potion, which imbues the drinker with superhuman strength for a short time, the recipe known only to the venerable druid.
To finally be rid of this resistance and to lay claim to all of Gaul the Romans exploit Gaulish law and use a collaborator Gaulish chieftain Cassius Ceramix to challenge the chief of our hero’s village, Vitalstatistix to one on one combat. The winner becoming the chief of the defeated combatant’s village in addition to their own.
The Romans recognise the flaw in their grand plan Getafix’s magic potion would make Vitalstatistix invincible in any battle. So, first, they must get rid of the druid.
This adaptation of the original story, first published in 1964, is a smart, charming and witty five-parter that doesn’t outstay its welcome. This is helped by the fact that the episodes are for the most part around 35 minutes each, with the final episode running to ¾ of an hour.
After the introductory episode that acts as a prologue and establishes the characters, the plot follows the source material closely up to a point, but then deviates quite drastically, but this doesn’t detract from the story. It also adds gags and situations from other albums along the way, plus some new ones. New characters and situations are introduced, too, all of which fit in well with the existing milieu.
As you’d expect these days, the animation is flawless, and the design of the characters true to the source material. A clever use of visual sounds effects for fight scenes copied directly from the comics add to the charm. Most importantly, the animation team have translated the humour and the characters from the comic albums to this series.
Your reviewer watched one episode in English, and the others in French with English subtitles. There is a slight discrepancy in the syncing between the English dubbing and the characters speaking, but it is negligible.
Describing something as “all ages” can sometimes be a sign of a work being a little “bloodless”. That’s not the case here, there is plenty here to entertain children and adults, just like the wonderful source material.
Luke Williams
• Watch Asterix & Obelix – The Big Fight on Netflix (Subscription Required)
• Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight Netflix Official Site
Web Links
• Asterix & Obelix – The Big Fight is available from all good bookshops (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
A collaborator in ancient Gaul? Chief Cassius Ceramix has gone over to the Roman enemy. There’s something very fishy going on, as Legionary Infirmofpurpus discovers when he is sent to spy on the Gauls disguised as a crab apple tree. But is that just a red herring? And what about the two concussed druids brewing colourful potions? One way or another, the fight for control of the village between Vitalstatistix and his rival is bound to be a knockout.
• Astérix et le Coup du Menhir
Astérix et le Coup du Menhir (“Asterix and the Big Fight”) was released in 1989 as an animated film, directed by Philippe Grimond and produced by Yannick Piel. Despite sharing the same title as Asterix and the Big Fight, the film shares only minor plot elements with that story, and is primarily an adaptation of Asterix and the Soothsayer. Getafix is accidentally made insane and amnesic by Obelix, forcing Asterix to try to cure him as his village is deceived by a fraudulent soothsayer that works for the Romans.
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Brought up on a diet of Commando, British Boys Annuals and Asterix, Lucas Williams’s day job limits his reading time. Luckily for everyone else this also restricts his writing time.
Categories: Animation, Comics, downthetubes News, Features, Film, Other Worlds, Reviews
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