Asterix and the Mansion of the Gods (2014) [The Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense's The Shortening]

The mighty Roman Empire is steadily marching over the world, occupying every territory it can see, but there's one that constantly evades their grasp-A small Gaulish village. Unassuming to look at, but armed with a powerful magic potion that can lay waste to entire Roman armies in a matter of second. The two Gauls Asterix and Obelix are hunting for boars as usual, until they come across a disconcerting sight-A construction site. The Romans have come up with a new plan to deal with the Gauls, by building a series of apartment blocks in the forest, and slowly forcing the locals away

Asterix and the Mansion of the gods is an adaption of the famous Belgian/French comic series, famous the world over (except America, because they're heathens). These tales of adventure, comedy, and satire have long struck a chord with audiences, and have inspired many. They've also inspired plenty of film adaptions, to mixed success. Many have been live action, and while I haven't seen all of these, and thus can't speak to their quality...it just looks wrong seeing characters drawn in such an exaggerated stylistic way being played by real people! Thankfully we've gotten a fair amount of animated ones over the years too, including today's movie...

Mansion of the Gods is a great =, bringing the comic book to life. It tells the story well, not diverting much from the original story,  and expands on the = [well]. The new scenes it adds never feel forced or at odds with the rest of the story, and complement everything quite well!

The film is just the right length at a brisk 80 minutes. Not too short or too long, and you'll be wanting more by the time it finishes ,in the way that makes you feel satisfied. It's a pretty densely packed 80s minutes too, with plenty going on, and never a boring moment as we're racing from one thing to the next.

tackles surprisingly =  thoughtful themes such as cultural assimilation, and how the biggest challenge with this isn't just the bad it brings, but the good, and how that can make it difficult to fight back against it, as well as the trouble when many of the = are innocent civilians. It's the reason why the Native Americans can't just tell all the white man to go bugger off back to Europe.

The characters are a larger than life bunch. From their puntastic names, to crazy behaviour, they're nice and entertaining

The direction
Of special note/importance is the montage at the halfway point, which shows the Gauls all adjusting to their new Roman life at the Mansion of the Gods. From its great imagery, to the lighthearted choice of music, it really sells a feeling of =, but also [melancholy at what they're all leaving behind, and not really fitting in].

Mansion of the Gods is animated superbly! The 3D animation is great, and there's never a stiff moment. Everything is fluid, the characters always look lively, and no scenes are poorly handled. Everyone looks exactly how they were drawn in the comic too, like it's come to life.

The score here is very neat, nailing the adventurous fun of the source material. Music plays a very important part later on too, during the aforementioned montage. The Italian song Sarà perché ti amo is a wonderful fit. It's a great song, and complements] the proceedings perfectly.

Overall, whether you're new to Asterix and are curious about it/dipping your toes, or are a seasoned fan, pleased or exasperated with the adaptions, Asterix and the mansion of the Gods is a great little film, and shows that not everything the French make nowadays is crap!...