Artemis Fowl Trailer: Did Disney Just Butcher the Character?

Disney has released the trailer for Artemis Fowl, a film that has been ridden with production issues for a while now. The film which is now set for a May 28 release was pushed back a couple of times due to rewrites and reshoots. One would hope that these reshoots would result in a better product (after all, the entire third act of Rogue One was reshot and re-written and it turned out to be absolutely brilliant). However, judging by its trailer, it looks like Artemis Fowl just might end up being a highly forgettable fantasy-action-adventure.

Check out the trailer below:

First of all, it looks like Disney has completely butchered the source material. The Eoin Colfer book is about a 12-year-old criminal mastermind, who at one point ruthlessly kidnaps Holly Short. But in the trailer, we see Holly Short teaming up with Artemis Fowl. You may say it’s unfair of me to criticise a trailer just because it appears to have crapped all over the source material. You’re right. After all, just because it veers away from the novel, doesn’t mean it’s not going to be a good movie in its own right. That said, even putting the story aside, the trailer in and of itself is bland. It lacks a genuine sense of wonder and discovery. It comes off as generic. Here’s to hoping that the movie makes me eat my words.

Disney’s Artemis Fowl official synopsis:

Disney’s Artemis Fowl, based on the beloved book by Eoin Colfer, is a fantastical, spellbinding adventure that follows the journey of 12-year-old genius Artemis Fowl, a descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds, as he seeks to find his father who has mysteriously disappeared. With the help of his loyal protector Butler, Artemis sets out to find him, and in doing so uncovers an ancient, underground civilization—the amazingly advanced world of fairies. Deducing that his father’s disappearance is somehow connected to the secretive, reclusive fairy world, cunning Artemis concocts a dangerous plan—so dangerous that he ultimately finds himself in a perilous war of wits with the all-powerful fairies.