Artemis Fowl is a series that I have long loved. I grew up with it. My copies of the first two books are Scholastic fair editions. I met Eoin Colfer last year at BookCon and could not have been more excited when I found out that Disney was making it into film.
I must say, the casting had me excited. First of all, Kenneth Branagh is a genius and I had high hopes for his directing prowess. The actor chosen for Artemis seems a bit off, but he does look like the boy on the illustrated cover, so maybe that is what they were going for. I just wish he looked more evil. The rest of the cast is great, although I have reservations about Judi Dench playing Commander Root (not that I mind the gender swap). I just don’t see her as the hot-head he/she is meant to be.
In preparation for this viewing, I reread the first book in June with a friend, so it was fresh in my mind. We watched the movie together (across the country) and I created a reaction thread. If you’re interested in checking that out, you can view it here. There are definite spoilers though, so proceed with caution.
Overall impression: (This impression is entirely based off my knowledge of the books and is not a testament to how the movie is as a standalone.) That was a train wreck. There was so much potential between the casting and the storyline, but trying to cram 4 books into one movie resulted in a film that felt superficial and rushed. There was very little character development, particularly of the main character, Artemis Fowl. He is not the criminal mastermind I have grown to love, but instead some confused pre-pubescent boy with Daddy issues that happens to possess impressive intellectual capacity (though where this was throughout the film, I don’t know). It appears that the foray into Fowl’s school life was merely to prove the point of his intelligence early on and then never speak of it again. I really enjoyed Holly’s character and Mulch’s, although I’m still confused as to why they decided to make him giant. Butler was perhaps the biggest disappointment. His remarkable skill and prowess as the ultimate protector was lost and he just didn’t have any redeeming qualities. Besides the characters, the pacing of the story was intense and not in a good way. Everything was rushed and there were several moments that appeared to be building to a climax that never happened. The whole thing just fell flat.
If you’ve seen the movie or read the books, I’d love to hear your opinions on either. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
Oh my goodness, I thought it was *abysmal*! I begged one of my friends not to watch it! I don’t think she has. Her husband tried watching it without her but he was lost since he hasn’t read the books. In addition to your critiques (which I agree with), I couldn’t understand why Mulch and Root were lowering their voices like that. Listening to them made my throat hurt! I did laugh when Mulch said something to Root about how they were grunting at each other like angry hippos. That was the best line of the movie! And isn’t Juliet Butler’s sister? Why is she his niece in the movie? Her character served no purpose that I remember. What a disappointment. Great review though!
YES to everything you said! Some of these I addressed in my reaction thread. I really don’t understand how changing Juliet from sister to niece was necessary. I thought Mulch had a few comical moments that helped ease the sting of how painful the whole thing was.