Caesar is refused entry to a nightclub

Asterix: Mission Cleopatra, like the first live action Asterix, has all the ingredients for a blockbuster film - a big budget, big stars and state-of-the-art special effects.

Its theme of cunning Gauls outwitting mighty Rome will be familiar to fans of the comic book cult duo.

Its gags do elicit a few giggles, the Egyptian (Moroccan in reality) setting is stunning, and the dance routine - to a James Brown song - by the magic potion-fuelled palace building workers is a highlight.

The tongue-in-cheek references to contemporary life - email messages, bad mobile phone connections, strikes, being refused entry to a nightclub also provoke a few smiles.

But the film never really takes off. This may be due to the mediocre plot. But it is probably more on account of the mostly pedestrian acting.

Monica Belluci as Cleopatra is like an Italian version of the English actress Liz Hurley. Her charms, on the evidence of this film at least, lie more in her physique than in her theatrical abilities.

The roles of the diminutive Asterix and his larger-than-life sidekick Obelix are no more than adequately filled, as in the first Asterix film, by Christian Clavier and Gerard Depardieu.

The surprise is that the two bickering heroes play second fiddle to the real star of the show, Jamel Debbouze as the architect Numerobis.

His bumbling, ineffectual character gets all the best lines and he delivers them with aplomb. Even if he doesn't get the girl in the end.

Asterix is currently on release in France