Artemis Fowl
In 2001 Irish author, Eoin Colfer, published “Artemis Fowl”, the first in his eight part book series by the same name. These books follow the adventures of a young boy from a family of criminal masterminds who used their skills to exploit and sometimes, when it is profitable, save the magical world of fairies. In June 2020 Disney+ released their movie adaptation of this book under the direction of critically acclaimed actor, director and producer Kenneth Branagh. This cast featured award-winning veterans actors such as Josh Gad, Colin
Farrell, and Dame Judi Dench as well as a few young new faces such as Tamara Smart, Lara McDonald and Ferdia Shaw.
The movie follows Artemis Fowl Jr. as he learns about his father’s criminal ways and comes face to face with the magical world of fairies that Artemis had thought to be myth and legends but turn out to be all too real. When his father is mysteriously kidnapped, Opal, his father’s kidnapper asks for ransom the magical object known as the Aculos. Artemis joins the family business, and becomes a criminal mastermind to find and steal the Aculus to save his father.
While all of the ingredients are there for a fun fantasy action film to
delight audiences of all ages, sadly Artemis Fowl falls short in execution and what is left is a mediocre and forgettable film that leaves audiences confused and wondering what they just watched. The plot has many major holes that I believe reflects some quick cuts that were made to the movie shortly before release. Before we go further, let us be clear, this is not a review of the book series “Artemis Fowl”, this review is purely talking about the movie. This story is all centered on Artemis Fowl Jr (Ferdia Shaw) the son of reclusive and eccentric art collector Artemis Fowl Sr. (Colin Farrell). Artemis Jr is brilliant, by the age of twelve he is a self proclaimed genius and has many academic accomplishments. He is also arrogant, aloof, and
generally unpleasant.
This is the first major issue this movie has when it comes to its characters. Artemis isn’t likeable. At the beginning of the story Artemis is talking to what is presumed to be the school counselor, he is blatantly arrogant, condescending and rude to the man trying to help but is deemed inferior by Artemis. This is our introduction to our hero and he doesn’t really get any better. He uses people and looks down on everyone to whom he comes in contact. He doesn’t grow or change through the story and the fact that he is arrogant seems to be viewed as a strength. It is hard to find anything likeable about Artemis, and that is a problem. There aren’t really any likable characters in this movie, maybe a few could be likeable but we don’t ever really get to know them.
That is the second issue with this film, the pacing is so fast that we
don’t get an opportunity to know anyone. There are several characters such as Mulch Diggums, Holly Short, Dom and Juliet Butler who seem interesting when we meet them but the story moves so fast we really don’t get to know them past the surface level. This is what tends to happen when you try to mash together multiple storylines from different novels into ninety-six minutes of film. There doesn’t seem to be enough room for character development on top of all the world building, exposition, and special effects. It seems like they ran out of time to invest in solid storytelling and character development and choose instead to focus on explaining the rules of their fantasy world. But what separates the great fantasy films from the hundreds of forgettable and sometimes painful ones is well rounded characters. When a story has characters that audiences like and can connect with on an emotional level, Fantasy movies go from cute to something that makes a lasting impact on the audience. Sadly, there is no emotional connecting with any of the characters making it a forgettable experience.
Content wise this is a fairly clean movie, there are some bloodless battles and it contains its fair share of monsters and peril. This story is definitely intended for older children and teens. Because it is a Hollywood movie aimed at kids but made by adults, the humor, which is hard to find, is regrettably very low brow. Rather than finding genuine humor based on the personalities of the characters and their situations, we fall back on some crude verbal and visual gags that pop up out of nowhere and seem out of place in this rather serious movie.
Overall, Artemis Fowl is visually an interesting film with an almost incoherent story and just average acting. If your interest is piqued in all adventures that ensure when criminal masterminds meet fairies and dwarfs I would recommend skipping the movie and going straight to the books.
Written by Madeleine Bullen
Score: 63 out of 100
Parents: Yes
Teens: Yes
Children: Yes (Caution about battle sequences and crude humor)
Tots: No
