Movie Project - Day 19: Asterix Conquers America

This was quite the unique experience for me. Usually I watch a movie with my daughter that I've seen before, and that I've enjoyed immensely. Something that I know would be a good movie for her to see and contribute to her film education. Asterix Conquers America was a bit of a departure from those characteristics.

First, I had not seen this feature previously, but had read the book it was based on. This animated feature was on par with the book in terms of character representation and storyline then added to it rounding out the story a bit more, but that's not really a good thing. The book itself was alright, but not the best, with a paper thin plot and character depth to match. Asterix stories usually have a bit more weight and a lot more comedy.

Second, I wanted to like this movie, I really did, and I really tried. The DVD itself was hard to watch because the dialogue was rather difficult to understand and there were no subtitles. Not even French subtitles, which surprised me since it is a French film. Only with the volume cranked to a less than comfortable level did I finally convince myself that this really was an English track, since some of the characters had ridiculous accents, like-a thee Ita-li-ano Centurian who kept referring to his Legionnaires as various pastas and meats. *Wince* Even though the commander was one of the antagonists that you're supposed to hate, I just couldn't wait for his scenes to be finished, and when Obelix threw him across the forest I had a small desire to cheer.

Rini was quite happy to be watching the movie no matter how silly things got and how disjointed the characters seemed. Even the music, which I found to be rather disconnected to say the least, my daughter seemed to enjoy. When the credits rolled a steady techno song started playing to which she got up, started dancing, and encouraged me to join in.

I attest most of her good behaviour to the popcorn she ate during the movie. Food tends to help her calm down, especially since I vetoed her idea to watch "A Bug's Life." I was very happy that she wanted to watch a Pixar movie, but for the next little while I'm going to try to focus on movies that are not animated and/or not Disney.

The schedule I have right now is as follows:
Jan 18 - Race for your Life, Charlie Brown! (My daughter does not know Snoopy. If I do not correct this, I fear I will fail as a father.)
Jan 19 - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum
Jan 20 - Red Skelton
Jan 21 - Abbott and Costello: Jack and the Beanstalk
Jan 22 - Brigadoon (This was the first musical I saw, not counting Sound of Music or any Disney movies, and it got me hooked on them)

I look forward to your comments!