Tearing "Asterix: Mission Cleopatra" to shreds for being inane and uninspired would be far too easy to be worth this reviewer's time. It's a live-action cartoon with big-name actors and one of the largest budgets in French film history and all the bland and uninspired jokes you would expect to find from your average kids film - except that, this being a French film, we are given a less-than-innocent glimpse at Cleopatra's (Monica Bellucci) more intimate spots.

Cleopatra is angry with Julius Caesar (Alain Chabat) and his constant complaints about the inferiority of the Egyptian people, so she bets him that her people can build the greatest palace the world has ever seen in three months. To give the palace a new look, she hires the young architect Numerobis (Jamel Debbouze) to do the job, angering his senior colleague Amonobofis (Gerard Darmon), who pledges to stop him. Amonobofis makes the usual super-villain blunders as he tries to foil the naive Numerobis, who will be crocodile meat if he doesn't finish the job in time.

Convinced that only a miracle will save the day, Numerobis travels to Gaul to find the Druid Panoramix (Claude Riche), who brews the magic potion that aids Asterix and his friend Obelix in their battles against the Romans. The Gallic trio agrees to help and travels to Egypt, where they give the workers the magic potion to speed up the work. Meanwhile, Asterix and Obelix set about foiling Amonobofis.

This is the sequel to "Asterix and Obelix Vs. Caesar," one of the highest-grossing films in French history. Both films follow the adventures of the two comic-book heroes who, thanks to their tremendous strength and magic potion, live in the only Gallic region free of Roman control. The original comics, only recently released in Russia, have been translated in at least 80 languages, and are one of the most successful comic book series in history.