Artemis Fowl

Ferdia Shaw, Lara McDonnell, Nonso Anozie, Dame Judi Dench, Colin Farrell
Directed by Kenneth Branagh
Rating: C+
Post-credits scene: No

Disney’s latest take on bringing books to film following the disaster of “A Wrinkle in Time” is actually one that I think is successful, and would benefit by producing a sequel.

“Artemis Fowl” is an adventurous tale of a young boy, Artemis (Shaw), following in his father’s criminal footsteps while learning that a bit of magic does, in fact, exist in the world. Truth be told, it has been a good decade since I’ve read any of the “Artemis Fowl” books (there are eight total by Irish author Eoin Colfer), so if you read the book series summaries, you will most likely be devastated by the changes Branagh has brought on screen. If you leave the book behind, you will find a charming tale of unlikely friendships, a surprising world of magic, and an interesting story to follow.

I think because this take on “Artemis Fowl” takes audiences into a journey of magic, the movie loses its focus by trying to explain itself. This adaptation of the series actually seems to combine elements of the first two books, but ended up still being a bit… boring. During the movie, I couldn’t help but catch myself thinking that if only we could move from all the explanations, we could have a fun movie on our hands.

A majority of the action takes place at Fowl Manor as Artemis holds Fairy Holly Short (McDonnell) of the Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance force (LEPRecon) hostage. Artemis is assisted by his bodyguard Butler (Anozie) and Butler’s niece, Juliet. Holding a fairy hostage is no easy task, and capturing one wasn’t, either. Yet Artemis is desperate to save his father who is a captive himself by an unknown dark force in the fairy underworld.

I was surprised to see some well-known faces appear, such as Josh Gad as “Mulch Diggums” and Dame Judi Dench as “Commander Root”. While Gad portrayed a goofy, but sincere character that narrates the story for us, Dame Dench on the other hand is a gravelly elf commander that sounds like she’s smoked one too many cigarettes. I think it would have been a little more refreshing to have an unfamiliar actor in the role.

At the end of the day, I think Disney’s intended audience (children rather than book lovers) are going to enjoy “Artemis Fowl”, and won’t care whether it’s true to the story or not. Sadly, I don’t expect we’ll see a sequel to this, which would be more successful because the movie won’t have to be explained and we can just jump into the action.

 

Photo credit: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/artemis-fowl-movie-review-2020