'Artemis Fowl': First full-length trailer promises to be a visual treat but may not satisfy fans of the books
Disney's 'Artemis Fowl' movie adaptation of the Eoin Colfer books starring Ferdia Shaw as the titular12-year-old criminal mastermind has been a long time coming and on March 2, a full-length trailer for the upcoming film was finally released.
The trailer has a lot of cool elements and some stunning visuals but for fans of the novels, it looks like 'Artemis Fowl' might end up being a disappointment.
That's not to say it will necessarily be a bad movie. It's just that the trailer reveals a lot of details about the film's world that are radically different from the books.
For one thing, the trailer heavily features Colin Farrell's Artemis Fowl Sr and reveals that the older Fowl has been locked in years of war with the fairy world, keeping the magical races away from human society.
Unlike the books, it's Artemis' father and not Artemis himself who discovers the fairies and it seems the younger Fowl might not even be aware of the full scope of his father's criminal undertakings.
Mulch Diggums and Holly Short are in the movie as well, played by Josh Gad and Lara McDonnell respectively, but their characters are again very different from the ones we know and love from the books.
It appears Mulch has been working as a double agent for Artemis Fowl Sr and Holly is... friendly? And she's a spy working for the humans against her own people, which we can't imagine the Holly from the books ever even considering.
Holly and Artemis do become friends later on in the books but what is really endearing about the pairing to us is the sheer snark and antagonism the two shared in the first few novels.
It's a strange kind of chemistry that worked wonders in the books and while we're hoping we're wrong, it appears that hasn't been translated to the screen.
On the bright side, the trailer does reveal that there's a troll involved in the movie although it appears the monster might be fighting Artemis himself and not Butler (Nonso Anozie) like in the books.
We really don't know how to feel about that because a huge part of why we wanted this movie in the first place was to see Butler's epic troll fight from the books brought to life in live-action.
Judging from just the trailer, it looks like 'Artemis Fowl' might be a real treat for the average audience and newcomers to the franchise, especially children, who are going to be wowed by the brilliant effects and CGI. However, if you're a die-hard fan of Eoin Colfer's books, this might not be what you were hoping for.
'Artemis Fowl' is scheduled for release on May 29.