A druid searches for a talented young druid to transmit the secret of the magic potion.
As you can no doubt tell from the above synopsis alone, there is little depth to this film. Unlike its predecessor Land of the Gods which was based on one of the wildly popular comic books, The Secret of the Magic Potion is simply based on the characters, and lacks the real strength in the narrative that the comic books had.
Missing the social and political side plots that gave the series an appeal to mature audiences, The Secret of the Magic Potion is a light, airy children's film. Surprisingly, the movie has a very limited role for the titular character Asterix and his colleague Obelix giving the film a much more relaxed feel to it, despite the very significant threat that the writers have attempted to put forward.
This film focuses mainly on Getafix the druid, among other nameless druids. With all other Gaul's getting rather seriously sidelined. Dogmatix is barely noticed, Vitalstatistix, Geriatrix, Unhygienix and Fulliautomatix pop up now and again, but Cacofonix gets the most attention outside of the druids.
The animation is smooth & bouncy and has a matte rubber texture that is packed with vibrant colours. All things that provide great appeal to a younger audience.
From an adults perspective, there is little to gain your interest. The film lacks the punch that the comics had, and as the dialogue is littered with pop culture references, it will date very quickly. There is no real adult humour included, and the plot is so basic that it feels like all of their efforts went into the sumptuous animation style instead of the story.
Asterix: The Secret of the Magic Potion is definitely an inoffensive film that is bright, colourful, and simple enough to appeal to a young audience. An ideal choice to act as a starter film for the Asterix franchise if the little ones are not old enough for the comic books as of yet. It may be best to wait until this one is available to stream or buy a physical copy because adults are not likely to want to sit through this in a theatre.