Marsupilami

Fourteen years after Alain Chabat's film Sur la piste du Marsupilami, a charming adaptation that failed to leave a lasting impression, Philippe Lacheau and La Bande à Fifi have taken on a challenge that seemed almost impossible: to restore Marsupilami to its rightful place in cinema, while staying true to the popular and joyfully regressive DNA that made them so successful. Previewed in numerous cities across France, the film immediately sparked waves of genuine, contagious laughter, reminding us just how demanding the art of family comedy can be when taken seriously. Here, the gamble pays off with astonishing mastery: Marsupilami is not just an avalanche of gags, it is a well-thought-out, structured and embodied adventure that fully embraces its comic book heritage while anchoring it in a modern, generous and unifying comedy.

The screenplay, co-written by Philippe Lacheau, Pierre Lacheau, Julien Arruti, and Pierre Dudan, is based on a deliberately simple but devilishly effective mechanism: a man on the verge of being fired agrees to bring back a suspicious package from South America, dragging his ex-girlfriend, his son, and a colleague who is as naive as he is hopeless into the adventure. When the package turns out to contain a baby Marsupilami, everything descends into jubilant chaos. This starting point allows the film to play on several registers: buddy movie, adventure comedy, family farce, without ever losing sight of a central emotion, that of the bond between the child and the creature, an obvious mirror of Spielberg's great fables. The Marsupilami is not a digital gadget: it is a character in its own right, alive, expressive, endearing, whose intelligent use of animatronics gives it a soul and physicality rarely seen in recent French cinema.

What is immediately striking is the unexpected maturity of Philippe Lacheau's direction. Whereas Babysitting, Babysitting 2, Alibi.com, Alibi.com 2, Nicky Larson et le Parfum de Cupidon, and Super-héros malgré lui played primarily on schoolboy humor and heavy-handed references, Marsupilami manages to channel this energy into the service of a real story. There are still plenty of gags, some highly visual, some delightfully absurd, but they now form part of a clear narrative progression, with a sense of rhythm that is more controlled than ever. Yes, some scenes take time to get going, especially in the first act, but this build-up then allows the film to literally take off and deliver a series of memorable sequences without ever losing momentum.

The film's great strength also lies in its ability to speak to several generations without ever betraying its tone. Children laugh out loud at the unapologetic slapstick, while adults savor the subtle references to E.T., Gremlins, Jurassic Park, Titanic, Top Gun, Kill Bill, and even Dragon Ball, which appear not as gratuitous nods but as genuine comic devices. The film constantly plays on this double meaning, inherited from the best animated films and great American family comedies, while retaining a deeply French identity in its sense of dialogue and situation.

The cast, faithful to the spirit of La Bande à Fifi, is uneven at times, but paradoxically, this imperfection is part of the charm of the whole. Philippe Lacheau once again imposes his sense of comic timing, Élodie Fontan brings a welcome touch of emotional accuracy, Tarek Boudali jubilantly plays the unpredictable supporting roles, and Julien Arruti, in the role of a deliberately idiotic “mule,” reaches a peak of touching stupidity reminiscent of the great figures of comedy à la Jacques Villeret. But the real surprise comes from the return of Jamel Debbouze, luminous, generous, and visibly happy to reprise the character of Pablito Camaron, whom he enriches here with a new maturity and tenderness, without ever losing his innate sense of improvisation.

Visually, the film surprises with its ambition. The exotic settings, the luxury cruise, the lush jungle, the action scenes choreographed with unexpected care for a French comedy, all contribute to giving the film a rare scope in the genre. Pierric Gantelmi d'Ille's photography and the music of Michaël Tordjman and Maxime Desprez perfectly accompany the rhythm of the gags and the emotional moments, reminding us that laughter, like cinema, is above all a matter of tempo and precision.

But beyond pure entertainment, Marsupilami surprises with its sincerity. The film deals with blended families, separation, responsibility, and transmission, without ever heavy-handedly pushing its message. It even slips in, with unexpected elegance, an ecological and humanistic message about protecting life and the folly of humans, embodied by the wonder in a child's eyes and the fragility of this mythical creature torn from its world. This emotional dimension, maintained throughout, gives the film a depth that was sometimes lacking in the troupe's previous productions.

Ultimately, Marsupilami stands out not only as the best film adaptation of the character since its creation by André Franquin, but above all as La Bande à Fifi's most accomplished film. Richer, more generous, better written, and better directed than Babysitting, Alibi.com, Nicky Larson, or Super-héros malgré lui, it marks a real milestone in Philippe Lacheau's career, confirming that he is now capable of combining popular humor, visual ambition, and sincere emotion. A great family film, unifying, funny, and touching, it fully deserves our rating of 5/5 and stands out as one of the major entertainment events of early 2026. Run to see it...

Marsupilami
Directed by Philippe Lacheau
Written by Philippe Lacheau, Pierre Lacheau, Julien Arruti, and Pierre Dudan
Based on the character created by André Franquin
Based on the character created by André Franquin
Produced by Patrice Ledoux and Jérôme Seydoux
Starring Philippe Lacheau, Jamel Debbouze, Tarek Boudali, Élodie Fontan, Julien Arruti, Jean Reno, Corentin Guillot, Gérard Jugnot, Didier Bourdon, Alban Ivanov, Reem Kherici, Booder, Vincent Desagnat, Romain Lancry, Paco Boisson, Laurent Spielvogel, Claudette Walker, Arthur Sanigou
Cinematography: Pierric Gantelmi d'Ille
Edited by Antoine Vareille
Music by Michaël Tordjman, Maxime Desprez
Production companies: Pathé Films, BAF Prod
Distributed by Pathé Films (France)
Release dates: February 4, 2026 (France)
Running time: 99 minutes

Seen on January 28, 2026 at Gaumont Disney Village, Theater 9
Seen on January 30, 2026 at UGC Ciné-cité La Défense, Theater 16

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