text: The second live action outing for Asterix is far better than the glued together elements of ten different stories that was called the first film, instead staying fairly close to the original comic.<br /><br />In a nutshell, Queen Cleopatra has made a bet with Caeser to build a palace in Egypt to show that the Egyptians are a great people. Royal Architect Edifis seeks the help of Asterix, Obelix and druid Getafix to complete his task. There are several laugh out loud moments, some jokes that only the French might get (jibes at the 35 hour week) while others that are more universal. The big budget special effects are spectacular but overshadowed by the jokes from the original comic.<br /><br />Depardieu and Clavier still work brilliantly as a pair while Monica Bellucci makes perfect casting as Cleopatra. Also, for fans of the comics the hilarious pirates get a look making up for their absence in film 1.