At long last, the full-length trailer for ‘Artemis Fowl’ is here. The movie is the first of a planned series, from Disney and directed by Kenneth Branagh, based on the YA novels by Irish author Eoin Colfer. The story centers around a 12-year-old master criminal and is set in a reality populated by fairies, dwarves, trolls, and other mythological creatures. There are eight books in the series, and it would make sense that Disney is hoping to make the same number of films, although it seems as though elements from multiple books are featured in the first trailer.
Newcomer Ferdia Shaw leads up the cast as the titular criminal, with Dame Judi Dench as Commander Root of the fairies, and Lara McDonnell as Holly Short, a character whom Artemis kidnaps in the books. But she is presented here as an ally. The rest of the cast looks like a who’s who of Disney stars, including ‘Dumbo’s Colin Farrell as Artemis Fowl I, ‘Frozen’s Josh Gad as “giant dwarf” Mulch Diggums, and ‘Cinderella’s Nonso Anozie as young Artemis’ trusty butler, Butler.
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If you are unfamiliar with the books, here is the synopsis for the movie:
[The film] follows the journey of 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl, a descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds, as he seeks to find his father who has mysteriously disappeared. With the help of his loyal protector Butler, Artemis sets out to find him, and in doing so uncovers an ancient, underground civilization—the amazingly advanced world of fairies. Deducing that his father’s disappearance is somehow connected to the secretive, reclusive fairy world, cunning Artemis concocts a dangerous plan—so dangerous that he ultimately finds himself in a perilous war of wits with the all-powerful fairies.
You can watch the trailer below:
If you have not read the books, this hopefully looks like a fun family movie with a stellar cast and what look to be solid visual effects and a sweeping story that spans the real world and the fantasy realm.
If you have read the books, or at least have some knowledge about them, this looks nothing like them. Instead of being an established and cunning criminal mastermind at 12, this Artemis looks to be an innocent kid, completely unaware of his father’s true occupation. And rather than being an older, established thief, Artemis I (Farrell) has spent years protecting “powerful secrets that have kept mankind safe.” What?
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‘Artemis Fowl’ was scheduled to be released on August 9, 2019, but was delayed until May 29 of this year. It appears that some reshoots were required, perhaps to make the lead character more heroic or at least sympathetic.
Well, it’s just the first trailer. And maybe Disney really wants to entice a larger audience that has not read the books and so this is being presented as a typical hero’s story up front and more nuance will come later.
What do you think of the new trailer?
Source: EW
