A small Gaul village, 50 BC. Asterix and Obelix get the assignment to train the teenager Justforkix from another village, who is the nephew of the village chief. Justforkix is spoiled and conceited, and confuses Asterix and Obelix by claiming to be a vegetarian. One day, a Viking ship kidnaps Justforkix because they think he can fly and can teach them this ability, which was misinterpretation of an advisor's words. In Scandinavia, Justforkix falls in love Abba, the teenage daughter of the Viking chief, but she is planned for a forced marriage to a warrior. Luckily, Justforkix uses Asterix' magic potion to save Abba and return back to the Gaul village, where the couple marries.
The 8th and last classically animated "Asterix" film took the longest break since the last one, "Asterix Conquers America", a full 12 years, yet this long wait wasn't worth it, since "Asterix and the Vikings" is little more than a solid film running on autopilot. Ever since other countries took over the franchize from the French, it hasn't been going that well. "Vikings" has wonderful animation and cinematography, but lacks witty dialogue and ingenious ideas from some of the best "Asterix" animated movies, like "Asterix in Britain" or "Asterix Versus Caesar". All of the jokes are just puns and references on modern names (the daughter of the Viking chief is called Abba; her mother is called Vikea; the teenage Justforkix has a pigeon that is used for SmS communication...), which can only go so far. Sadly, as it was the frequent trend in the last few films, the protagonists Asterix and Obelix are marginalized in the background, while the supporting character Justforkix practically became the lead, which leaves the title character underused. The subplot about a misunderstanding that Justforkix can fly (?) and is thus kidnapped by the Vikings feels lame, whereas the interaction between Asterix and Obelix with the Scandinavian people hasn't got some high inspiration, save for the amusing idea that they realize everyone's name ends with a suffix "af", so they introduce themselves as "Asteraf and Obelaf". One rare good joke has the Viking chief explain how here men drag women by their hair when they are about to get married, upon which his wife lovingly reminisces how she was almost "scalped". Maybe more was expected after such a long pause from the animated film series, yet the movie is overall easily watchable and dynamic enough.
Grade:+
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