Artemis Fowl was a popular book series that got its start nearly 20 years ago. Now Disney is bringing the story to the screen, and we now have the film's first full trailer, more than a year after the first teaser was released. It basically looks like kid-James Bond with magic, which is hardly the worst idea for a movie.
The new Artemis Fowl trailer reveals a lot of details about the upcoming film, including just how different the film will be from the books that inspired it. It does, however, have Josh Gad a a filthy giant dwarf, so there's that. Check it out.
The trailer shows Artemis Fowl discovering that his father has been captured, and also learning that his father is believed to be a master thief. Except that what dad has been stealing are apparently magical items that are dangerous to the rest of the world. It's now fallen to young Artemis Fowl to use his father's tools, and some help from a couple of faeries, to save his dad.
It's been over a year since we've seen anything from the new Artemis Fowl movie. Originally set for release last August, the film was pushed back to May of this year, putting more than a year between the release of the first trailer and this one.
All the various pieces look interesting. It's an interesting premise, not a bad idea for a movie. However, it's a pretty significant shift from the book itself. In the first novel especially, Artemis Fowl is, what's the word...evil. While the movie is apparently telling us that Artemis' family only appears evil to the outside world, in the book, the family is truly a line of master criminals. The original book is all about Artemis Fowl kidnapping faeries in an attempt to to extort their gold. His purpose, to fund a search for his missing father, might be worthwhile, but he doesn't hesitate to do terrible things to get what he wants.
In the book, Holly Short is Artemis' victim, but here she's apparently his partner. Mulch, Josh Gad's dwarf character, is a criminal the faeries resort to using to try and stop Artemis. He'll also be working alongside the hero. Although, it's possible, given the look, that Mulch is a bit more "criminal" than the rest. So perhaps Gad's role will be the most accurate to the book.
As an adaptation, Artemis Fowl will certainly not be super accurate, though that doesn't mean the movie on its own will be bad. It's got a solid cast including Judi Dench and Colin Farrell and has been directed by Kenneth Branagh. When you're working with this level of talent, you should be able to produce something of note.
Assuming Artemis Fowl doesn't get delayed again, we'll be seeing everything the movie has to offer in just about three months.
