Movie Review - Artemis Fowl

 

I had never heard of Artemis Fowl until Disney started advertising the movie. I had no plans to see it in theaters because of the disappointing trailer, but when it showed up on Disney+ I thought, "I suppose it's worth an hour and a half of my time." And it almost was.

Artemis Fowl is a 2020 fantasy film based on a series of books by the same name. It is rated PG for action violence and is appropriate for all ages.

The Good

Clever Take on Fairies. The movie had a really clever take on the fairy world and it's relation to our world and its use of technology. It was well thought out and explored in a decent amount of detail.

The Bad

Story. There was not a lot of story. A half hour into the film I was still waiting for it to start before I realized this was all there was.

Characters Talking and Standing Around. Most of the film consists of characters standing around and talking. Occasionally something else happens, but the action scenes are few and far between.

No Peril. The main villain is introduced early and seems like a creepy and cool character, but ends up not doing anything but standing around and making threats in a raspy voice.

Climax. I've never seen a film with a smaller climax. I thought it was just the beginning of some big showdown, but no, that was it.

What I Would Like to Have Seen

I wish there had been more story, more peril, more adventure.

Overall

Artemis Fowl is a somewhat entertaining fantasy story for the whole family. It has a really clever take on the world of fairies, their relationship to this world, and their use of steampunk technology that runs on electricity. But the story is very thin with no peril, very little action, characters standing around and talking most of the time, and a quick and simple final conclusion. This felt like a low budget TV movie of the week that was rushed thru production. It's entertaining and has a clever premise, but it needed a lot more content. I give it 3 out of 5 Boxes of Popcorn.