Best Asterix Animated Movies

Let's be honest: one of the most brilliant aspects of the Asterix books, and the movies when they are adapted from those books, is René Goscinny's writing and humor. Asterix wouldn't exist without him, and even if someone else had come up with the idea of Asterix, it wouldn't have been the same without him. This was confirmed when Goscinny passed away and Albert Uderzo took over the writing. As talented as Uderzo was at illustrating those Asterix books, his writing skills couldn't match Goscinny's, and the quality of Asterix declined as a result.

I bring this up because The Twelve Tasks of Asterix is not only one of just two Asterix movies that isn't based on a previous Asterix book, but it's also the last one to be directed by Goscinny himself! And in my opinion, it's the best Asterix movie we've ever gotten. First, let's take a moment to appreciate how much the animation has improved since Cleopatra. This was the point where the animation in the Asterix series made a leap comparable to going from the PlayStation 1 to the PlayStation 2 in gaming.

As for the story of the movie itself, it has an excellent premise and is absolutely hilarious. Caesar wants to test the Gaulish village one last time to see if they are gods. He creates twelve tasks inspired by the twelve tasks of Hercules for Asterix and Obelix to complete. This brilliant idea leads to many funny situations.

What's great is that at first glance, you might think our heroes will breeze through these tasks thanks to their magic potion. But it turns out that some of the tasks aren't completed with the potion's aid. Instead, we see Asterix solving situations with brilliant tactics to manipulate his opponents, or Obelix being such an oddity that his brain doesn't function like everyone else's, effectively making some tasks less challenging for him than for others.

We also get the top-tier dialogue we've come to expect from Asterix. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you should... more

This is another movie directed by Goscinny himself, as well as Uderzo. Who would have thought that the geniuses behind the Asterix books would also excel at making movies? I must admit that the animation in this film hasn't aged well, but what sets it apart is its excellent pacing. Unlike Asterix the Gaul, it takes full advantage of being a movie rather than a comic book, making it still engaging to watch despite its dated animation.

What I mean is that the film is super cartoony, avoids awkward pauses that might bore children, and includes scenes carried by their visual humor. And what better way to capitalize on the cinematic format than with songs? The songs in this movie are true classics. Everyone in Quebec, and I assume in France as well, must be familiar with the arsenic cake song to be considered cultured.

As for the dialogue, it's outstanding. This may be because I grew up watching this movie and know it almost by heart. In fact, you could say the same about most Asterix movies I've seen. This film is arguably the most quotable movie ever. The only reason you don't see me quoting it all the time is that I mostly watch it in French and converse in English here - plus, people probably wouldn't get the references anyway. I feel as if I don't make at least three Asterix references each year, I'll cease to exist by year's end. This is partly because the voice acting is somewhat cheesy, but mostly because the dialogue is so well-crafted. I absolutely love this movie. It's an ultimate classic!

I don't know why Asterix and the Big Fight is that good. You see, for me, and probably other people as well, Asterix is primarily based on humor. How funny an Asterix book or movie is defines how great it'll end up being, and some of the weaker Asterix stories, especially the movies, tend to be more serious stories, with less focus on the humor, and as a result is less funny, and less good overall due to not being that good at making serious stories. Turns out however that Asterix and the Big Fight is an exception. When you take a look at scenes like when Panoramix gets hit by that Menhir, you see that this movie takes scenes much more seriously than most Asterix stories. However, it is a movie that is actually legit REALLY good with more serious and emotional scenes, so the focus on more serious events doesn't hurt in any way! We also has one of the most interesting villains in the franchise, which is good for this kind of story. That scene where Obelix picks up Asterix after he fainted in gas, and then reflects on how everything was his fault, really hitted me. The best part of all that is that humor wasn't sacrificed too much, because it is still a pretty funny movie! It's not the funniest movie in the franchise, but it's probably just in the funnier half. Honestly, the Big Fight could actually be the best movie in the franchise. I still rank Cleopatra and Twelve Tasks higher because they are more representative of what an Asterix movie is, but if you want a mix of seriousness and fun, the Big Fight is the movie for you!

This was the first Asterix to be made in 3D, and it's pretty good! Now I do think the way they focused more on that family that won a place at the mansion of Gods was kind of mishandled in some ways, but other than that it is still a really funny Asterix adventure, that also has pretty high stakes that makes you care about what'll happen.

This movie is just really fun! This is one of two Asterix movies that are essentially a copy of the Asterix movie it is based on. Unlike the other one though, it didn't suffer from the transition from comic to movie, because it is still really engaging to watch, and one of the most hilarious Asterix movies there is. Nothing to add really, it's just really funny and good.

Asterix the Legionary is my favorite Asterix book of all time. Probably one of the funniest fictions ever made. Now, I say this because Asterix versus Caesar is one of the few Asterix movies that are based on two books at the same time. Asterix the Big Fight, despite being titled like the comic of the Big Fight, it is basically Asterix and the Soothsayer with Panoramix getting hit on the head by a Menhir like in the Big Fight instead of just being gone for a trip, the live action movie God Save Britannia is SOMEHOW a mix between Britain and the Normans, and, Versus Caesar is a mix of the Gladiator and the Legionary. Now, even the Legionary part isn't as good as in the comic book, but it is still the Legionary at the end of the day, so it is still very funny, and even the Gladiator part is quite good. It's even the Asterix movie with the only case of a character falling in love that actually makes the movie better. Like seeing Obelix in love with Falbala is super funny and kind of cute. Now it was better in Legionary, where Obelix is the one to decide to save Falbala's fiancé, despite being the one Falbala is in love with, which was one of the coolest character moment for Obelix ever, but hey, we can't have everything. It's only on the lower half of my ranking because I find the other movies to be simply better.

This is the first Asterix movie, and an adaptation of the first Asterix book. In fact, it's almost copy paste to the first book, and pretty much to its detriment. You see, when you adapt a book into a film, you need to make changes that would make the pacing of the movie better. Asterix in Britain, despite being very similar to the book of the same name, did that pretty well. This one however, not only does it not help that the animation is kind of dated, but also there are so many awkward pauses, the movie goes from scene to scenes like if you are reading the comic book, except it doesn't work like. And that's not the only issue it comes with. When I was a kid, the slow pacing of that movie was something I really didn't like, because it made the movie feel long, even though it isn't really. That being said, it isn't at the bottom, because at the end of the day, it has most of the things that made the first Asterix book great, and it is still a funny time.

Something about that movie that made me... sceptical to say the least, is that this is the first, and so far, the only Asterix movie that isn't a Goscinny story in any way shape or form. It isn't based on a comic written by Goscinny, and unlike Twelve Tasks, it wasn't directed by Goscinny himself. And that does mean something, since Goscinny was a big part of why Asterix was so great. That being said how was it? Kinda good I guess?! I really want to love this movie guys. This is one of the Asterix movies that tries to be more serious, and the worst part is that it does some really good attempts multiple times at making some impactful and emotional storylines that could have been really interesting to follow. But that's the thing! It did MULTIPLE attempts! And perhaps it should have attempt less or make the movie longer, because none of the storylines this movie shows reach their full potential, and kind of nothing really happened in the end. It is still a somewhat funny movie, and if there is anything I love about that movie, that bonkers final fight where the romans form a titan to fight against the druid villain, with the help of Obelix, but overall, I feel like this movie could have been a lot better and show that Goscinny isn't the only guy that can make Asterix great.

If there is one Asterix movie that suffers from focusing more on a serious story rather than being funny, it is this one. When I was a kid, I thought Asterix was much better than Tintin and that was because of the humor (in fact I still do, but that's besides the point), so like this was my least favorite Asterix movie to revisit by far. It does have beautiful scenery and music, and it's not like the serious moments aren't good from time to time, but it's not like they carry the movie's lack of humor either. It's not like it's never funny, but it is overall the least funny animated movie in the bunch, and I think all of this makes it a movie that really isn't great.