Yesterday, I watched Artemis Fowl - the film (published on Disney+ only in 2020). As I've already read all the books of the series, I wondered how they'd portray the characters. Even though in the film a few well-known faces turned up, such as Colin Farrell as Artemis Fowl senior and Judy Dench as Commander Root, as well as director Kenneth Branagh, the fîlm was a disappointment.
Lack of characterization: Each of the characters only has little screen time, and the little time they were granted wasn't used for characterization, so none of the characters really grew on me. Even Judi Dench as Commander Root didn't give me much to root for. (Sorry, I needed that.) Shee lookes rather at unease with her pointy ears.
Minimal character arcs: Artemis jr. changes, but as he isn't portrayed as the cool, distanced, calculating small adult at the beginning, his character change arc to good guy is rather insignificant.
Superficial relationsships: Compared to the books, the film tries to develop the relationship between the two Artemises, father and son, but as they never did something really important together, the relationship remained stale, the characters bland.
Botched planting: Some characters are shown doing something special at the start, but the film later never cashes in on these planted activities: Artemis surfing, Butler and Juliet performing kendo - neither is the Artemis of the books fond of sportive activities, nor do Juliet or Butler use their skills in any way against the troll - they seem rather helpless if push comes to shove (rather being pushed and shoved).
Why blue lenses? Why does Butler have to wear blue lenses? This irritated me very much, and I don't see the point.
Cardboard characters: Various side characters are there because they are present in the books (Juliet, Butler's sister/niece, Briar Cudgeon, trouble-maker ), but they don't do anything relevant. They are more like cordboard cut-outs than characters.
And the winner is? The books, definitely (and the audiobooky, anyway). Should I say, as always?
Watch out for the books by Eoin Colfer, Artemis Fowl
Artemis Fowl
The Arctic Incident
The Eternity Code
The Opal Deception
The Lost Colony
The Time Paradox
The Atlantis Complex
The Last Guardian
My favourite character is the imp / warlock Nr. 1 of The Lost Colony, a really ugly duckling...