The Secret of the Magic Potion
Asterix, the headhunter
“The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans … Well, not entirely… One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders. And life is not easy for the Roman legionaries who garrison the fortified camps of Totorum, Aquarium, Laudanum and Compendium…” This is the prologue to all the adventures of Asterix and his friends, since the character’s first appearance in October 1959, and it is also in the recent animation “Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion” (“Asterix – Le Secret de la Potion Magique, FRA, 2018).
The adventures of the little Gaulish warrior have conquered hearts and minds throughout the world, being translated into 83 languages and 29 dialects, with 350 million copies sold, games, toys, a theme park and twelve adaptations for the cinema, 4 with real actors and 8 animations, among which the one we speak here.
The film begins with the druid Panoramix (Bernard Alane) harvesting ingredients for his potions in the forest. After saving a little bird, he falls from a tree and breaks a foot. Rescued by Asterix (Christian Clavier) and Obelix (Guillaume Briat), the druid is extremely disappointed with himself and decides to recruit a replacement. What makes everyone worried is that it involves passing on the secret of the magic potion that gives enormous strength to all who drink it!
Inflexible, Panoramix decides to make a journey through Gaul (present-day France), in search of a worthy substitute. To help him on the journey, Asterix and Obelix will go with him, as well as the little girl Pectine (Lévanah Solomon), a brilliant student who venerates the druid. The problem is that someone else hears about this search, the perfidious Sulfurix (Daniel Mesguish), an old adversary of Panoramix, who wants to take over the formula of the magic potion.
The group does a restless journey, interviewing countless young Druids until they find the most appropriate candidate. The problem was that Sulfurix had arrived earlier, and had co-opted the young man for his not benevolent purposes.
The movie is extremely entertaining, with the usual gags in the Asterix universe, such as painful battles with the Romans (for them, of course), as well as the countless and weak postulants.The most curious is the candidate with a very familiar aspect, whose main magic is the multiplication of breads.
In addition to being an adventure that appeals to children, teens and adults, “Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion” also brings some fun lessons about succession process, selection of new talents, and especially, female empowerment.
The animation of the movie, signed by Louis Clichy, is very sophisticated, using three-dimensional techniques that give an aspect of enormous reality to the images. This was not the only daring of the film. After adapting the album “The Dominion of the Gods” to the big screen, director Alexandre Astier dared to ask Albert Uderzo, one of the authors of the character, to create his own story. The request was granted, and the result was one of the best Asterix movies ever released in theaters.
“Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion” is in the selection of the Varilux 2019 French Movie Festival, and certainly is an excellent programming to whole family, especially for the new and old fans of these beloved characters. Have a good fun!