NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Shawn Watson In the 11-year gap between Conquering America and this a lot had changed with animated movies. As lovely as Asterix and the Vikings looks it does feel like a TV show at times and it just doesn't feel the same anymore.Paul Giamatti and Brad Garrett provide the voices of the two Gaulish heroes (in the English dub) while Sean Astin is the Chief's visiting nephew Justforkix. The kids is a wimp and a pacifist, and for contrived reasons he'd kidnapped by the Vikings. Asterix and Obelix are on the trail to the rescue and...none of it really feels epic or exciting, and although there is some humor it just doesn't have the same inspired magic.Alexandre Azaria's score is loud, intrusive, and obnoxious and does not allow any scene to speak for itself. It detracts from the moment rather than enhancing it. Directors Stefan Fjeldmark and Jesper Møller know how to make it look nice, but fail at making it work.A disappointment.

Wizard-8 I have known for a long time that France has its own animation industry, but I'd never seen examples of it before. I chose this movie to be my first look at "Franimation", because I am an Asterix fan - I've read almost all of the books, including the one this movie is based on.Overall, I was pleased with this movie. First, the animation. While the animation may not quite match Disney theatrical movies, it comes close. The movement is fluid, the colors pop out of the screen, and the backgrounds are detailed.As for the story, it was overall fine. The movie does follow the book about halfway through, then goes in its own direction. Probably this was a wise decision, because the second half of the book is mostly talk. In this movie, there is more action and slapstick in the second half, and it's more cinematic. The whole story zips along at a good pace and contains plenty of action and laughs.My one criticism of the movie is that the characters of Asterix and Obelix - the principle characters of the books - become secondary characters here. It seems odd to have Asterix in the title of the movie. One other criticism other viewers might have is that, if they are unfamiliar with the books, some details may be a little puzzling.

xamtaro Asterix and the Vikings is the first animated asterix movie in over 12 years since the 1994 "Asterix conquers America". It also has the honor of being the first digitally colored asterix animation, which makes the largely entertaining story a lot more breathtaking to behold.Every scene of this movie is vividly rendered in bright cheerful hues adhering closely to the color schemes of the comic books it was based on. The character designs also stick relatively close to the comic, for better or for worse, preserving the simple but unique look of the characters. Being simple in terms of character design, this allows for more time and effort to be spent on the actual animation, which by the way surpasses many other big screen theatrical animated movies. Character movements are very fluid and possess a quality that looks way beyond what a modest budget would usually produce; there is always something moving in every scene and no evidence of the usual cost cutting animation short cuts. 3D computer images are incorporated seamlessly with the traditionally animated 2D art. If anything, the style of shading makes the 3D elements look more like traditional comic book paintings than CGI models.The storyline takes much of its elements from the "Asterix and the Normans" comic, and this is where its main flaw lies. As an adaptation of said comic, "Asterix and the Vikings" takes way too many liberties with its source material. Long time fans of the comic would no doubt find much to dislike about the movie's story and its lack of adherence to the source.On the other hand, one can see this story as a really fun one if taken on its own without comparing it its source material. Highly comedic, well written jokes pepper the upbeat script. The funniest parts were the numerous pop culture references and jibes at modern day 21 century life. Mobile communications, the shopping channel, commercial airlines and even sports cars are spoofed to great effect. Excellent chemistry and acting by the cast (I watched this in English by the way) though a couple of voices like Cacofonix I found really irritating (but I guess it is all part of his character).If there is anything to criticize about the story, it is the lack of "asterix". This story seems to be more like Justforkix's story of teenage romance and "coming of age" with Asterix and Obelix merely playing supporting roles. This gives a pretty big sense of staleness since much of the story's elements are the usual staples of such teen movies. Derivative and clichéd at times, only the witty comedy and traditional "Astrix" elements (the Romans, the pirates etc) manage to save this film from falling into plain mediocrity.While not the best installment in the Asterix animated movie library, it is certainly one of the funniest, the best scripted and the most beautifully animated. DVD seems a little hard to come by though

hugmyster For those who have enjoyed the Asterix books and films, you'll LOVE this film! Yes, I will admit that it does mix some of the books and films, but the characters are brilliant and it's not just people showing off their CGI left, right and centre. I've already seen it several times and laughed my socks off at it.Of course it contains the main heroes Asterix (Astérix), Obelix (Obélix) and Dogmatix (Idéfix), but this time they have someone new to... deal with.With a sense of humour like that, the Gauls will go on and on and on. Bless 'em.