After a nine year gap, this is the fourth Asterix movie, and the first since the death of Rene Goscinny - and it's a pleasant surprise. Finally, against expectations, the weaknesses and inconsistences that marred the first three films to one extent or another are gone, and whereas 'Asterix Vs Caeser' might not have the occaisional flourishes of comic brilliance that 'Twelve Tasks' had, it has one commodity that turns out to be more important. Consistency and a properly paced narrative.

The pointless brawls are largely gone, and so are the sections from the early movies which drag or just don't work. 'Asterix Vs Caeser' keeps up a good pace from start to finish, even if it never threatens to become a masterpiece. It is nevertheless the first Asterix movie that I fell I could recommend to a non-Asterix fan.

The film is actually based on two Asterix books. For the first half it follows 'Asterix the Legionary' pretty closely. This is a good thing, because it's one of the funniest of the books. Two Gaulish lovers are captured by an over-enthusiatic new Roman recruit, and fearing retribution from the rest of the village, the Centurion of the camp has them shipped off as far away as he can get them - the Foreign Legion. Asterix and Obelix (who is smitten by Panacea, the female prisoner) immediately take off in pursuit, joining the Legion themselves.

Then it sort of takes a U-turn and turns into 'Asterix the Gladiator' (also good, but not AS good). The way this is done is actually pretty seamless, and it won't annoy anyone who hasn't read the books, but it is a shame that they didn't just stick to 'Legionary'. For instance the funniest section of the whole book, involving Asterix and Obelix's recruitment into the Foreign Legion, along with an Iberian, a Goth, and a Briton, is blown through very quickly, and we never see those characters again, whereas they become major and very funny characters in the book. Still, the film works pretty well as a creation in its own right.

It may be missing some of the sophisticated latin puns and adult-aimed humour of the books, but it's the first Asterix movie that LOOKS good, is well paced, entertaining all the way through, and has really good voice acting. I must say I was rather surprised on viewing it for the first time since the 80's, because my recollection was that 'Twelve Tasks' was the better film, but I was wrong. This would be a good place to start if you haven't seen an Asterix movie.