Thank providence for YouTube, where I have discovered that several animated films based on various "Asterix" iconic novels actually exist. I recently watched "Asterix and Cleopatra" on YouTube and rated it quite favorably in my Amazon.com review. More recently I viewed the even more diverting "The Twelve Tasks of Asterix" (hereafter TToA), which adds understated but piquant British humor and attitude to ancient Greco-Roman themes.TToA begins from the beginning, introducing us to the stalwart Gaulish village which is the sole hold-out against Julius Caesar's hordes and especially the village's cleverest warrior, Asterix, and its most powerful, Asterix's friend Obelix. They have repelled Caesar's forces so decisively for so long that many of the Roman military and senate leaders start to believe the villagers are immortal gods (or at least demigods) against which resistance is futile. Caesar angrily scoffs at this and personally travels to the village to propose a contest: if Asterix and Obelix can complete 12 excruciatingly difficult tasks, Caesar will admit that the Gauls are gods and will let them be. But if they fail even one task, the village must accept defeat and absorption into the Roman Empire. The short, phlegmatic, and unassuming Cassius Tiddilus (I think that his name) will monitor the heroes' progress.And so we're off. TToA is an excellent place for the "Asterix" neophyte to learn the lore and why these Gaulish characters are internationally renowned. The animated movie is also a deft parody of the twelve tasks of Hercules (which are briefly referenced) and an unexpected showcase for droll, unflappable behavior in outlandish situations in the Monty Python vein. Some of the tasks are traditionally athletic like foot-racing, javelin throwing, and judo. Others allude to Greek myth like the sirens' island of voluptuous pleasure and the old man of the mountain's riddle. Still others are more satirical like the attempt to acquire a permit in a bureaucratic labyrinth and spending the night on a ghostly plain. Yet no matter what they face, Asterix and Obelix (speaking in delightful matter-of-fact British tones) address them with stately, unflappable resolve which, again, reminded me of Monty Python.The ingenious beauty of TToA (and of "Asterix" in general) is its appeal to various levels, from connoisseurs of lively, sometimes cartoonishly violent action and fighting to appreciators of clever parody and sly dialogue. Best of all, TToA is unpretentious fun that, as the climactic scenes in the Coliseum show, doesn't take itself seriously.

vThe year is 50 Bc. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Roman. 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 . In the village are our friends : ¨Asterix¨,the hero of this adventure,he's a shrewd , cunning little warrior ,all perilous missions are immediately entrusted to him.¨Obelix¨ his inseparable friend,he's a menhir delivery-man by trade and addicted to wild boar,he's always ready to drop everything and go off on a new adventure with Asterix,so long as there's wild boar to eat, and plenty of fighting.¨Panoramix¨,the venerable village druid,gathers mistletoe and brews magic potions,his speciality is the potion which gives the drinker superhuman strength although also has other recipes up his sleeve.¨Abraracurcix¨,the chief of the tribe,majestic,brave and hot-tempered,the old warrior is respected by his enemies,he has only one fear,he's afraid the sky may fall on his head tomorrow,but as he always says,'Tomorrow never comes'. And of course ¨Cacofonix¨,the Bard,opinion is divided as to his musical gifts,he thinks he's a genius,everyone else thinks he's unspeakable,but so long as he doesn't speak,let alone sing,everybody likes him..... The film concerns about Julius Caesar who offers the Gauls a covenant ,they must prove which they're Gods by making twelve extremely difficult works, similar to 12 works of Hercules which are the following: vanquished to the Amazonas,captured wild boar and bull of island of Crete,killed the Hydra,swept the stable of Ujias,murdered to Gerion and Diomedes,took apples of garden of Hesperides,won a race against the clock to a deer,strangled to Lion of Nemea,shot arrows to birds of lake Stinfano,got out at Teseo of the inferno. Asterix and Obelix will must be able resolve twelve similar tasks that Caesar chose and if the fail they will converted slaves and the Gauls village will hand over the Roman empire to them . Between the dangerous missions our friends must suffer are the followings : the fighting a winner javelin thrower and against a judo-man, the lures of mermaids , taking a celestial challenge with a God, combating a ghosts army, the crossing an invisible bridge and confronting public officials with a extremely critic to the bureaucracy ,among others. The picture will appeal to Asterix and Obelix comic-books fans.

When the Roman soldiers are defeated yet again, a rumour starts that the Gauls must be gods of some sort. Eager to find out the truth, Cesar challenges them to complete 12 tasks just as Hercules once did. If they pass all 12 then he will concede they must be gods and will leave them in peace. Asterix and Obelix are selected to complete the tasks and set out with a Roman administrator to record the tasks.Although some of the little tasks in this bitty film are imaginative and funny (the admin one for example), the majority of this film is deeply flawed. The first few tasks are rubbish but some of them get better as they go. The administration one starts out very imaginative but gets silly in the style of the rest of the film. The humour here is not the witty stuff of the books but noisy childish stuff that I simply didn't find very funny. The fragmented nature of the plot should have made it easy to have some tasks be slapstick and others be very smart, but instead it goes for an unfunny sort of jaunty humour that doesn't work.The actors hurt the film more than I could have imagined. I relate this to the English version of the film, perhaps the other languages had better actors more suited to the roles, but the English one is awful - I though Craig Charles was not a good Asterix until I saw this film! All the voices are very whiney and nasal and simply do not suit any of the characters - Asterix and Obelix in particular are just plain wrong and that little admin may have been amusing for about two seconds but after a while his voice simply grates. The boring and poorly cast voices serve to make the film feel deadly dull and humourless; they really sucked the life out of it.Overall this film has a few moments but generally it is poor. The animation and music are far to round, colourful, cheerful and lacking any precision or wit. The humour is far to basic to bear the name Asterix and all in all this is a fairly painful film for all but young kids and Asterix fans who have the patience and grace of a saint.

The best of the several movie adventures of Asterix, Obelix, Vitalstatistix and Co., our heroes are given a series of increasingly difficult tasks by Caesar, with the future of the village at stake - ranging from crossing a ravine by an invisible bridge ("Which you do not see over there") through avoiding the lures of the sirens, combating a champion javelin thrower and getting a permit for the next task (something that will strike a chord in anyone who's ever had to face red tape) to facing a celestial challenge by a god who asks them to... actually, that last one is so funny you have to see it for yourself.There is a book out, but it's the adaptation of the movie, making "The Twelve Tasks Of Asterix" the only one to date actually written for the screen first. Perhaps the makers of the later animated movies and the live-action ones could take the hint? (Or is adapting them properly beyond 'em?) Sheer pleasure throughout, with moments that still make me laugh years after seeing it and some surprisingly strong satire, all the movies should have been like this. Right, let's tie up the bard and bring on the boar...