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Review: Artemis Fowl

Artemis Fowl Trailer

Artemis Fowl is a 12-year-old genius and descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds. He soon finds himself in an epic battle against a race of powerful underground fairies who may be behind his father’s disappearance.

Oh dear.  Oh deary me.  What has Kenneth Brannagh done here?   If you’ve not read the Artemis Fowl books by Eion Colfer then you may have some enjoyment out of this Harry Potter themed National Treasure hotpotch.  

Artemis Fowl available on Disney+ On Screen One
Artemis Fowl available on Disney+

Woeful casting outside of Gad and Dench, the young Artemis, isn’t seen to be much of a criminal mastermind, more of an obnoxious kid with an over reliance on everyone else.  Added to that, rushed plotting and poorly executed set pieces make this cluster bomb of a movie  rather dull watch.  Way too much running around shouting and overladen CGi moments make this a hatchet job of the highest order.  And with such decent source material it’s strange how badly the book has been adapted here.

With its hopeful sequel meanderings at the end of the film, Disney are hoping that this will  play big on Disney+ but from the initial reviews this could go the way of the Golden Compass, which would be a crime within itself, because this is another case of a seriously mishandled source material.  Which is not like Brannagh and makes you wonder if the studio got over involved?

Artemis Fowl available on Disney+

Not a particualrly great start to Disney+ straight to streaming offerings. Hopefully Mulan will be better. But at least this didn’t end up on the big screen where it would have been buried and labelled a complete flop. Here it can sit and wait to be eventually selected for a Sunday afternoon TV premiere.

Rating: 2 out of 5.
Artemis Fowl available on Disney+ Movie Poster on Screen One
Artemis Fowl available on Disney+ Movie Poster

Artemis Fowl is available to steam now on Disney +

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