Asterix Conquers America

For those late for the news from the Gallic Wars, the French village of Asterix and Obelix is still holding out, but Caesar's disguised henchman, unable to steal village 'supplier' Getafix's recipe for their magic potion, catapults him over the edge of the flat Earth, straight into the pipe-smoking clutches of the Native Americans. The formula (for this seventh installment) is still basically the same: a good-natured punch-up heavy rescue-adventure, with Roman puns for the adults. The racism is still universally applied: massive rubber-lipped blacks on the palm island; Roman legionnaires with 'Mama Mia' accents from Italian ice-cream ads; and, interestingly, upper-crust Brits as galley-slaves rowing in competition like Edwardian varsity blues. The animation, however, is good; and while it's low on the musical count, it all rushes by too fast to notice.