We had read a few less-than-complimentary reviews of Artemis Fowl, the latest Disney movie to bypass cinemas and hit the small screen on Disney +, but the 11-, seven- and five-year-olds hadn’t and so were very excited to see what this fantastical adventure based on the book by Eion Colfer had in store.
Directed by British star Kenneth Branagh, the film follows the journey of tween criminal mastermind Artemis Fowl (played by newcomer Ferdia Shaw) as he searches for his missing father (Colin Farrell).
Descended from a long line of criminal masterminds, the 12-year-old genius finds himself in a battle of strength and cunning against a powerful, hidden race of fairies who may be behind his father’s disappearance.
With the help of his loyal protector Butler (who is a big tough guy with a soft centre) he sets out to find his dad, and in doing so uncovers an ancient, underground civilisation – an advanced world of fairies.
Fowl strikes up an unlikely friendship with 84-year-old fairy (very young in fairy years given the chief fairy, played by veteran actress Dame Judi Dench, is 302) Holly Short (Lara McDonnell) and a freakishly large dwarf (Josh Gad).
The foursome, helped by Fowl’s human friend Juliet, work together to rescue his father and to protect all humanity.
We enjoyed the film, but then we haven’t read the books and many say the adaption has ventured too far from the original story.
And the kids seemed impressed too.
What the kids say:
The five-year-old
The fairy saved the day and that was my favourite bit. I liked the film although it was a little bit scary when the troll tried to fight the goodies and when the mean fairy took the daddy away and kept being mean to him.
The seven-year-old
I really enjoyed this film, and I wasn’t sure that I would because it looked a bit more like something my brother would watch. The main fairy, Holly Short, is super cool and I’d love to have her powers and be as brave as her. My favourite part was when they all had to battle the troll in Artemis’s house. It was exciting, but a little bit scary too. It looks like there may be another film that carries on from this one – the ending seems to show that. I really hope there is, that would be brilliant.
The 11-year-old
A few of my friends have read the book and told me it was really good. I hadn’t read it, but was excited to see the film based on the things they were saying about the story. Artemis Fowl is pretty awesome and very smart. There are some really funny bits in it too, like when the dwarf is in jail with some goblins and he laughs at them and makes them angry, and when the dwarf opens his mouth wide to dig a tunnel in the ground and as he chomps his way through the earth, it goes all the way through him and out his other end – absolute genius! It was also brilliant that the fairies could stop time and keep everyone in a bubble. It’s a cool film and I am hoping there will be more films as I know that there are eight books…
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