Artemis Fowl 5 Things The Movie Actually Got Right (& 5 Unforgivable Errors)

Artemis Fowl: 5 Things The Movie Actually Got Right (& 5 Unforgivable Errors)

The Artemis Fowl movie quickly developed a bad reputation but how much of the adaptation stayed true to the books and how much was totally wrong?

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After years of development, a movie adaptation of Artemis Fowl was finally released. And setting aside the reception (which is anything but positive), there will be elements that the movie adaptation actually got right and others that are deemed as unforgivable errors. While that is expected for any adaptation of a book, it matters if any story changes lose the spirit of the source material.

So let’s address the “faithfulness” of the movie adaptation of Eion Colfer’s book. Here are 5 major elements that Artemis Fowl movie actually got right and the 5 unforgivable errors.

10 Got Right: System of the Lower Elements Police

The role of the Lower Elements Police (LEP) are expanded in this film. Being the primary law enforcement among fairies and magical creatures, they play a major role throughout the Artemis Fowl lore. For the first book of the series, they served as the opposing party against Artemis when he captured one of their officers, Captain Holly Short.

The movie adaptation got the LEP right, from Commander Root leading the force, Lieutenant Brian Cudgeon being scheming and Foaly specializing in LEP as technical support.

9 Unforgivable Errors: Non-Threatening Presence of LEP

There are certainly points in the first book that show how the LEP are ill-equipped to take in a criminal mastermind like Artemis Fowl. The troll alone was a misstep by Lieutenant Cudgeon that ultimately removed him from his position. And in the end, the LEP lost to Artemis when he found a way to escape their time-stop field.

But the LEP in the movie are not much of a threatening presence. Their army deployment outnumbers Artemis and Butler, but they are beaten immediately and there is no rapport between them.

8 Got Right: Time-Stop Around Fowl Manor

The time-stop serves a deus ex machina for the LEP to avoid human discovery. It was discovered by warlocks in the early times, but Foaly utilizes it to cut off an area from the world, disabling anything from breaking into the field. It also makes it impossible for one’s state of consciousness to change. Thus, the only way out is through sleeping pills.

The time-stop ability has been used twice: once during the troll capture in an Italian banquet and the other during the LEP’s sting operation around Fowl manor.

7 Unforgivable Errors: Opal Koboi’s Appearance

Opal Koboi is an overarching villain of the entire Artemis Fowl saga. She is a criminal genius with a growing empire and an enhanced skill to extract powers from magical creatures to support her own magical powers. So why is she reduced to being a shadowy figure with a raspy voice?

Setting aside that she was not meant to appear in this adaptation of the first book, Koboi was intended to have a full-on appearance by Hong Chau. But her scenes are left on the cutting room floor. What a disappointment.

6 Got Right: Mulch Diggums’ Core Quirk

On the other hand to Opal, Mulch Diggums (played by Josh Gad in the movie) has a larger involvement in the story, even going as far as his interrogation scenes being the framing device for Artemis’ supposed story. For all the problems that the film posed for Diggums, including his troll height and the requisite special effects work, there is one thing that the movie faithfully kept accurate: his flatulence and his digging.

For the unfamiliar, Mulch Diggums specializes in lethal flatulence like the “torpedo” or the “cyclone” and he digs at high speeds. At least the movie embraces his bizarreness.

5 Unforgivable Errors: Adding A MacGuffin

In the book, Artemis deciphers the secret of fairies replenishing their magic by performing a ritual that involves taking an acorn during a full moon and planting it elsewhere. He and Butler track down Captain Holly Short doing the replenishing ritual and they incapacitate her with a tranquilizer gun and cage her in the manor.

But in this film, that acorn was used as a MacGuffin and was called the “Aculos”. It was the item that Opal Koboi seeks from Artemis and its insertion into the story is egregious.

4 Got Right: Butler’s Skills

Domovoi Butler (Nonso Anozie) is Artemis’ confidante and bodyguard who supports him every step in the way, much like his father and his predecessors before him as guards to the Fowl clan and the movie, in some ways, was loyal to show–albeit sparsely–his core traits and skills set, which includes marksmanship, IT and martial arts.

Another thing that they kept faithful was his younger sister Juliet, who is also finicky and chipper, like in the books.

3 Unforgivable Errors: Artemis and Holly’s Interactions

The interactions between Artemis and Holly are one of the core elements that run throughout the series and that propel Artemis for his redemption arc. But this young-adult fantasy depicts their exchanges as stale and standard. It does not help that Artemis acted spoiled and rigid during Holly’s capture, and also that Holly was too by-the-books and forgiving after her release.

Because of the sanitizing of the overall story, their resolutions are not well-earned.

2 Got Right: Haven City

Undoubtedly, the most faithful element of Artemis Fowl has the least amount of screentime. That being its interpretation of Haven City. It is an underground city in the Lower Elements and the largest of its kind. It is where the LEP Headquarters is located and, like in the books, it is technologically advanced and enriched with fairy magic.

For a few moments, the film captured the basics of Haven City from the scenes that introduced Mulch Diggums and Holly. It is the closest that the movie went to establishing the fairies’ realm.

1 Unforgivable Errors: Removing Artemis’ Villainy

Everyone can agree that the movie’s most ultimate flaw is sanitizing Artemis Fowl’s villainous persona. Artemis is primarily the main antagonist of the first book. He was wicked towards Holly. He was conniving in outwitting the LEP and he was ruthless in committing to his family’s criminal empire. While the movie mentions his villainy, it never actually showed Artemis’ villainy.

This movie strips away what drove Artemis to be a redeeming character. The plot substituted his wickedness with a smug presence that is secretly sympathetic.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/artemis-fowl-disney-plus-movie-accurate-books-changed-errors/

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