DVD
Asterix and the Vikings

Starring (voice): Sean Astin, Brad Garrett, Paul Giamatti and Evan Rachel Wood
Optimum Home Entertainment
RRP: £15.99
OPTD0808
Certificate: U
Available 05 March 2007


Asterix and Obelix are assigned the task of making a real man out the Chief's nephew, Justforkix, who has just arrived from Parisium. Meanwhile the Vikings have landed in Gaul, determined to find a "champion of fear" who will, as their seer has promised, teach them to fly. When Justforkix is abducted by the Vikings Asterix and Obelix must chase after him all the way to the frozen North...

Asterix and the Vikings is the latest screen outing for René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's most famous creation. Based on the book Asterix and the Normans (first published in serial form in 1966) the film never quite manages to hit the heights the book did.

Growing up I was a huge fan of the Asterix series of books. The start of this movie seemed pretty promising, but sadly too much is made of the love story between Justforkix and Abba, the Viking Chief's daughter. So out goes a lot of the comic interaction between Asterix and Obelix, and in comes a lot of Disney style rubbish about love, honour, and sexual equality.

It was a shame that the main characters in the series take a back seat. It's nice that the Romans and the Pirates make a brief appearance, but the fact that Asterix, Obelix and Dogmatix take second place to a new young character is unforgivable. I mean, what's the point of "borrowing" a classic story if you are going to change it to make it a lot less entertaining than the original?

In the book little Dogmatix (who only appears in the film fleetingly) shows for the first time his distress of trees being uprooted - something that would become an ongoing joke in the books. Also, the movie hardly features the village's poor ballad, Cacofonix, who plays a much more vital role in the book. Oddly enough we see Cacofonix tied up in the movie's banquet scene - Asterix and the Normans was one of the few books where this didn't happen to the poor man.

There are some amusing additions that the film producers have used to drag the movie up to date. Justforkix's taste in music is interesting, as is the fact that the Viking Chief's wife is called Ikea and his daughter is called Abba.

There's a good chance that this DVD would have received a higher mark if the review copy had been presented properly, instead of a poorly reproduced DVD-Rom disc with a "Propreite of SND" warning obscuring part of the screen for the movie's duration. I can't comment on the extras, or even confirm if there are any, as our review copy simply contained the movie and nothing else.

It's such a shame that the writers of this movie tried to turn a classic Asterix story into a Disney clone. Asterix and the Vikings would have been much more entertaining if it had stayed loyal to its roots.

Darren Rea

Buy this item online
We compare prices online so you get the cheapest deal!
Click on the logo of the desired store below to purchase this item.


cover
£9.98 (Amazon.co.uk)
   
cover
£11.99 (Play.com)
   
£9.99 (HMV.co.uk)
   
£10.95 (Thehut.com)

All prices correct at time of going to press.