Monica Bellucci is one of European cinema's most beautiful and charismatic performers - certainly talented enough, it seems to me, to merit getting the role of Cleopatra in some serious treatment. But until then, she will have to make do with climbing into the asses' milk for this breezy, knockabout comedy, based on the classic French cartoon strip. If you can imagine Carry on Cleo mixed with Monty Python and the Holy Grail with a strong dash of Tex Avery, you'll have a clue.
Our heroes journey to Egypt at the behest of Numerobis (Jamel Debbouze), a hapless architect, who must build an entire palace for Cleopatra (Bellucci) in three months, or get fed to the crocs. This is a follow-up to 1999's Asterix & Obelix Take on Caesar, and again it has Christian Clavier and Gérard Depardieu in the leading roles.
Until now, I have found Asterix an acquired taste that I have yet to acquire, and matters weren't helped by the 1999 movie, which was released here in a dubbed version, with the execrable Roberto Benigni in superlatively unfunny form. But - and I hardly know how to say it - this movie really did make me laugh a lot of the time, with a very silly, naughty script packed with sight gags and decent lines. There's lots of stuff about Egyptians going about sideways on; when somebody squares up to another for a fight, he shouts: "Come here and say that to my profile!"
For some, the idea of a funny mainstream commercial French film is about as plausible as an internationally successful French rock group. But this really is not bad. And as for being dumbed down, well, how many recent British or American comedies have Latin gags? (Cleopatra's palace has "Domus Quietus Domus" above the door.) And this film has a visual allusion to Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa! Julian Barnes, eat your heart out.