Though it would have been lovely to take in the lavish set pieces and the cool CGI creations and the whiz-bang action sequences on the big screen, Artemis Fowl still plays well as a warm and funny and entertaining at-home family viewing experience.
There are people who like movies like this, who like when a movie screen looks like their computer screen and who don’t mind when everything is fake, including the emotions. Artemis Fowl is a genre movie, and as such, it’s an OK version of the thing it is. I just can’t stand the thing it is.
This film is really good, but if everyone is posting awful reviews, they aren't making a sequel so your reviews will be useless. The story is different than the book, but it's a very good film.
Rarely in the history of cinema has so much tortured exposition failed so completely to explain such an undistinguished plot. It is like trying to pick up the story through overheard conversations with nearby drinkers who have just emerged from a screening. Stop telling us stuff and do something!
For those who have spent the last few months hungering for a big-spectacle mess (they are, after all, a feature of summer moviegoering), now you can take in a big-budget flop from the comfort of your own home.
And that, perhaps, is the easiest way to explain its overarching failure: In a film built on a bestselling eight-book series, filled with all manner of magical beings (including Colin Farrell), and rich in fairy tale history, the best scene is one in which its grating narrator farts on a passerby. You didn’t see that in the “Harry Potter” films, and for good reason.
The end product is all but unfollowable, thanks either to a screenplay that was incoherent to begin with, or an edit so slicingly brutal that almost every trace of the plot’s connective tissue was chopped out.
Artemis Fowl is not just a disappointing adaptation, it’s a badly made movie. Its Frankensteined plot and its shockingly poor CGI — which could have passed in an early 2000s movie, but not in 2020 — leave it no redeeming qualities. It gives me no joy to say that yet another movie adaptation of a beloved childhood property has wasted Colin Farrell.
I watched the movie with my son and daughter (17 and 12) and we all liked the movie.
Good acting. Nice characters. Nice story (we did no read the books). A nice family movie. The only differences I see with other movies are...
No men hating. No racism. No drugs are cool or other pushed agendas.
Nice flick for a family time.
I came in fresh, no knowledge of the book series and have to say I enjoyed myself. Fantastic techno-fantasy action adventure film with a talented cast. While it's certainly not the best in its field, it was executed to a high production standard. Easily worth your time if you enjoy the fantasy / action / adventure genre.
Appalling dialogue, patronises the adult audience who are the people who loved the books on release, garish faked Irish accents on all characters, (just employ someone with that accent) THERE MUST BE A SEQUEL - So They can actualise the author's intention. Do This Franchise justice and don't back down!
Or is this where Netflix steps in and reboots to save us all?
I love the books and like the possebilities this movie had but if Disney had the slightest care for the source material it could have been great instead of watchable, if they focused on story, world and character building instead of the famous "Disney diversity" and spitting on the original then there could have been infinite possebilities.
Saddening to see how low Disney has sunk :(
The Artemis Fowl books are magnificent. They are likeable, witty and captivating stories that feature interesting characters, a developed world and a great sense of fun. If you have not read them, I would highly recommend them - they’re fun for all the family.
The film is... none of those things. It does have cool visual effects, some nice cinematography, a few talented actors and one good line, but it’s just a messy, plodding film. It barely has any accurate translations of the first two books, and it dumbs down the plot to the pint of it - get this - not even making sense!
The film opens well enough, even if it is just asking for plot holes to come, but once that troll fight happens... anything of quality is lost down the toilet. While some of the visuals are nice, some are atrocious, and the entire Fowl Mansion break in sequence was very poor. The script makes the once great characters feel hollow and thin, and a Josh Gad as Mulch Diggums... some of his scenes were painful.
Overall, Artemis Fowl had the potential to be a classic adaption, but it failed due to a lazy script, a messed up story issues and an unenjoyable pace. The reviews say it for you - this is not Harry Potter 2.0.