I haven't seen the previous Asterix movies and nothing I saw in this one made me want to catch up with them though I can imagine that Christian Clavier would be light years better than Clovis Cornillac - who is far better at drama than comedy - as Asterix. In a cinema packed with French children it garnered very few laughs and no major, show-stopping laughs at all, which is comment in itself. I found it relied far too heavily on running gags that were not so much running as limping and on 'guest' appearances. I didn't dislike it enough to walk out but nor did I enjoy it enough to contemplate borrowing let alone buying the DVD.

René Goscinny's untimely passing in 1977 left a vivid interrogation mark on the future of his most iconic creation: Astérix, the little Gaul. Yet Albert Uderzo, the drawer, took the challenge and managed, for at least two decades, to remain respectful to the witty, comical and slightly satirical tone of the first albums. Of course, here and there, he injected some fantasy or romance, but the humor did justice to the legacy of the great Goscinny and never caused any concerns.

It's not until the dreadful "All at Sea" in 1996 that some signs of, pardon me, senile over-inspiration, alerted the fans. It started with the Atlantis Island and that horrific sight of a flying cow, it was followed, five years later, by another story featuring Asterix and Obelix' mothers attempting to marry their bachelor kids… but even those were nothing compared to the deathblow of 2005, the last album drawn by Uderzo, daring to mix Astérix with Sci-fi. The title was "The Falling Sky", reading it, I felt like the sky actually fell on poor Uderzo.

The relationship between Uderzo and Astérix became as problematic as when a troubled parent has the custody, and to understand the horrid disaster of "Astérix at the Olympic Games", one must consider the context of its making. Basically, the third live-action adaptation was one of the most anticipated projects of French Cinema, especially after the success of the hilarious "Mission Cleopatra". "Chorus" director Gérard Jugnot wanted to pay his tribute to his childhood hero and the movie was planned to be based on "Astérix in Hispania".

However, Uderzo dismissed a script that, according to him, didn't respect the spirit of Astérix. The man who was just preparing an album that would make the late Goscinny roll over his grave, who despised "Mission Cleopatra", sealed the fate of a promising project. I would hate to think that Uderzo, who co-created Astérix, would be the least capable person to judge the quality of an adaptation, didn't he love, after all, the magnificent "Mansion of the Gods" in 2014? Uderzo probably refused the script, out of fear that it would interfere with the release of "The Falling Sky" and "Asterix and the Vikings". It was nothing personal, but strictly business.

And indeed, when you see "Astérix at the Olympic Games", you don't think of it as the work of a fan, but of businessmen. Claude Berri, who produced the first films, let his son Thomas Langmann taking over the ambitious project, and invest millions of euros to make an international blockbuster. Clavier was replaced by Clovis Cornillac, Depardieu would still be Obelix and Jean-Pierre Cassel, in his last role, was a rather weak and invisible Getafix. The rest of the cast featured bankable stars: Alain Delon, comedians Benoit Poelvorde, Elie Semoun, Franck Dubosc and Alexandre Astier, and so many cameos they became the rules rather than the exceptions.

Still, the most disconcerting aspect of the casting is Canadian comedian Stéphane Rousseau as a Gaul named Alafolix, in love with a Greek princess, I say 'surprising' because this has nothing to do with the album, yet it works as the set-up of the film: to marry the princess whatever-her-name-is-and-who-cares, Alafolix must win the Olympic Games over his greatest rival: Brutus. Astérix and Obélix are almost relegated to secondary roles just like in the 'Vikings' film. Again, romance ruins everything. Check all the previous attempts, Justforkix and Abba, Obelix with the Native girl or Falbala in the first live-action film, and even "Asterix vs. Caesar" to some extent, romance never fits with Astérix and just slows down the action.

But "Olympic" takes the cake as the romance isn't part of the original album, and involves two characters who don't even belong to the series. It's dull and boring and only redeemed by the sight of beautiful Vanessa Hessler and Poelvorde's funny performance as Brutus. Well he manages to grab a few laughs although some attempts are so intelligence-insulting that you're wondering if the gags that work aren't accidental. It starts with the falcon whose landing on Brutus' arm is so "brutal" he's thrown from the saddle, okay… then he sees Princess and recites a poem. The lyrics are an excerpt from a famous French hit song. The gag works for a few seconds until the unforgivable mistake where he actually sings the original song, which totally ruins the joke.

A similar gag occurs when we first meet Caesar, Delon delivers a tirade full of references to his previous films, the first reference is fun, the second can pass, at three, it gets redundant, at the fifth one, you just want to shout "stop, this is embarrassing!". Delon is not even playing Caesar but a Caesar version of Delon, which is not funny, since this is the most predictable cliché about him, not to mention the running gag of Brutus' assassination attempts, which, despite some funny ones, confine to a level of absurdity totally discrediting Caesar's intelligence. If that's the joke, it's not even funny. And this is actually symptomatic of the film's problem, the script was written according to the stars, they are the references, the story is secondary.

So secondary that after an overdose of CGI-driven lousy effects, movies references, and cringe-worthy performances, the film's conclusion gratifies us with an extra ten minutes featuring a cameo of Jamel Debbouze and Adriana Karembeu, then Zidane and Tony Parker showcasing their skills. The only interesting jokes came from Alexandre Astier as Centurio Mordicus and it's interesting that Wikipedia mentions he wrote his lines, as to justify this oasis of brilliance in a desert of mediocrity. Later, Astier would write the greatest adaptation of Asterix since Chabat's, "The Mansion of the Gods" making us forget about that dreadful adaptation.

"Asterix at the Olympic Games" shows how far cinema can go when poisoned by business, it's almost ironic that it has to be a Sports-themed film.

Gaul is entirely occupied by the Roman . Well not , entirely . One small village of indomitable Gauls holds out against the invaders . Life is not easy for the Roman legionaries who garrison the fortified camp . In the village are our friends, Asterix (Clovis Cornillac replacing Christian Claver) , he's a shrewd and cunning little warrior, his inseparable partner is Obelix (Gerard Depardieu , as always),he's ready to drop everything and go off on a new adventure with Asterix , Panoramix (recently deceased Jean Pierre Cassel) , the venerable village's druid who brews magic potions , his speciality is the potion which gives the drinker superhuman strength , without forgetting the chief Abraracourcix and the singer Bardo Cacofonix . Besides , a young villager enamored a beautiful Greek princess named Irina (Vanessa Hessler). Then our heroes decide participate in the Olympic Games in Olympia . There they must confront the Caesar's (Alain Delon substituting Gottfried John and Alain Chabat) son , named Brutus (Benoit Poelvoorde).

The picture captures outrageous adventures , tongue in cheek , anachronisms , feats and hilarious moments here and there. Packs sympathetic first appearance of Julius Caesar played by Alain Delon doing a self-homage with musical background from the Clan of the Sicilians . It appears several secondaries as Spaniards and French actors , such as Santiago Segura , Monica Cruz and Jean Pierre Castaldi ,Janel Debouzze repeating his role of Numerobix and the wrestling champion Nathan Jones as Humungus . However , this time doesn't appear the likable pirates and their sinking ships , being replaced by known football players in a silly ending with a balloon as plot . The motion picture was regularly directed by Frederic Forrestier , though it contains lively musical score and colorful cinematography by Thierry Argobast . This inferior third entry shot in live acting is preceded by ¨Asterix vs Caesar¨ directed by Claude Zidi and ¨Asterix and Cleopatra¨ by Alain Chabat with Monica Belucci.