ARTEMIS FOWL ANALYSIS: THE BOOK TO THE MOVIE
BOOK TO MOVIE
ARTEMIS FOWL ANALYSIS
If you’ve read Artemis Fowl, then you know that the movie, produced by Disney, is NOTHING like the book. In fact, the movie seems to be a complication of two books – Artemis Fowl and The Opal Deception. Its almost as if Disney didn’t want there to be a second movie, despite the fact that there are 13 books in the series.
A big issue with the movie is that it combined too many elements from the series into a short 90 minutes. This caused a serious lack of character development, connection to the characters, and no real drama despite the titanic-style music scoring.
Oh, by the way, there are spoilers in this post. Don’t keep reading if you want this movie flop to remain a mystery. At least, not until you get the chance to experience the disappointment for yourself.
Ill go into detail about how this movie SHOULD have been done in another blog post. But for now ill just give you a little compare and contrast. You’ll also find my general thoughts on certain adaptation choices.
Read to the end to see what Eoin Colfer wanted for this movie and how it met his expectations.
Lets start with the plot of the book:
With the prologue, we are given a brief introduction into who Artemis Fowl is. The setting and general plot are quickly pointed out.
Chapter 1 starts the story off with Artemis and Butlers search for a fairy-tale creature hiding out in the human world. Their goal: a book.
Chapter 2 introduces two characters: Juliet (Butlers sister) and Angeline Fowl (Artemis’ mother). We are also given insight into the generations-old relationship between the Fowls and the Butlers. This chapter also highlights the importance of The Book and Artemis’ intelligence. Spoiler: he is smarter than a normal 12-year-old.
Side note: I particularly enjoy that there are occasional pictures to support a difficult section. Chapter 2 has a pictogram of how Artemis translates The Book. It is pretty cool!
artemis fowl analysis
Lets continue on with the overall plot of the movie:
The introduction is conducted by Mulch Diggums, who sits in a jail cell while he tells the story of Artemis Fowl.
Artemis Fowl is a 12-year old boy genius in Ireland. His mother died fairly recently. His father is frequently away on business…or possibly stealing expensive art and collectable around the world.
Artemis Sr. goes on a trip but gets captured by the mysterious villain, Opal Koboi. She uses him as bait to get Artemis Jr. to find and deliver a weapon: The Aculos.
Artemis captures a fairy by the name of Officer Holly Short. This happens while she is on an unauthorized mission to clear her fathers name in the fairy world. Through very precise planning and a little luck, Artemis is able trick all of the fairy officers.
He eventually finds the Aculos by manipulating Mulch Diggums into opening a fancy safe. Holly and Artemis become friends. She helps him by using the Aculos to bring home his father. They have to do all of this without it falling into the hands of the villain.
Most of the story occurs in four locations, which honestly wasn’t enough. Diggums is the narrator of the entire story. He explains everything to an invisible interrogator when he gets arrested.
The book progress chronologically. For adaptation purposes, I like the reverse chronology in the movie. The beginning is actually the end of the story.
Most of the action occurs at the Fowl Manor. Holly and the other fairies are introduced in Haven City, their secret world. Bits and pieces of the story occur in Opal Kobois dungeon, where she is keeping Artemis Sr. captive.
Artemis Fowl Analysis
My opinions:
The movie was a flop because the directors and producers didn’t have enough confidence in us book nerds. We WANT to watch multiple movies (or tv episodes). This story about a special 12-year old boy who goes on adventures with magical creatures would have been ideal as a tv show.
Does this story sound familiar to you? It should…. Its basically Harry Potter. But a little more sci-fi. Disney really could have made this into a strong tv show if they had just FOLLWED THE BOOKS!!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I know that movies cant entirely follow what is written in the novel. Even Harry Potter, which is perhaps the most successful book to movie adaptation series, had a lot of differences.
However, combining two books into one movie and then not even attempting to leave a cliff hanger for a second movie is just sloppy and lazy. Why make the movie in the first place?
Can you imagine only having one Harry Potter film? The whole series would have flopped. There wouldn’t be a theme park in Orlando, Fl dedicated to the fantastical world.
Artemis fowl analysis
INACCURACIES:
I also struggled with many of the films inaccuracies. For one, the characters do not AT ALL match the descriptions as written in the book.
- Artemis Fowl is supposed to be an awkward pale brainiac with no athletic or fighting abilities. However, the movie has him surfing in Ireland. He is also involved in multiple fight sequences throughout the film.
- Holly Short in the book is described as having nut-brown skin and being three feet tall. In the movie, she is pale and the same height as Artemis (about 5 feet).
- Commander Root in the movie is a woman, but the character is written as a male in the book. To be honest, I’m not mad about this change. There was an over-abundance of male characters in the film. Having a strong female in a power position created balance.
- Foley in the book is a paranoid, conspiracy-theorist centaur who wears a tin-foil hat. He also tends to speak in short sentences in (what I imagine to be) a fast pace. Movie Foley, however, is a sophisticated and well-groomed centaur who is charming and witty.
- In the movie, the mom is not in the picture. With the book, Artemis’ mom is very much alive and manic-depressive.
- For the movie, his dad is a big part of his life, but gets kidnapped by the evil villain. Within the book, Artemis Sr has been M.I.A for a very long time. That is why Artemis’ mom is depressed.
CONCLUSION:
To be fair, it took many years of struggling for Artemis Fowl to be produced. This script passed through the hands of multiple producers before finally being made.
Unfortunately, it was released in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. It did not appear in theaters. It went straight to Disney+.
A lot of movies flopped because of the lack of hype that movie theater showings tend to produce. I guess it was just bad timing and a lack of marketing effort.
Regardless of these facts, Artemis Fowl could have been created better. Not to say that it isn’t a great movie. There are interesting actors and graphics. However, it clearly was not made for those that read the Artemis Fowl books.
I would be remise not to mention that the author very clearly did not want an exact remake. In one interview with Jennifer Matarese, he states that he “wants something new”. He wanted the director to re-interpret the book in a new way.
It also seemed to be his idea to send his movie straight to Disney+. Due to covid, a big red carpet premier was not a possibility. Understandably, there were limited options. However, there should have been more fan-fair to help the movie gain more viewers.
Eoin Colfer seems like an incredibly humble guy. I highly recommend seeing some of his interviews.