Artemis Fowl (2020)

The film is described as bland and incoherent with paper-thin character development and unimaginative world-building; the critic highlights how uninterested it is in its source material and the sidelining of female characters.

The review criticizes the adaptation for softening the protagonist's criminal edge and delivering a static, incoherent plot that fails to capture the fun of the books. It highlights some solid moments from Judi Dench and Josh Gad but concludes the film lacks edge and coherence.

The review faults the adaptation for sanding off the book's darker edges into a safe but muddled adventure, with stilted performances, rushed pacing and baffling changes to the source material that leave it feeling thin and like a direct-to-DVD effort.

The film is a glossy and empty exercise in world-building that sacrifices character development for briskness. Artemis has been softened into a less interesting spunky troublemaker rather than a devious mastermind.

The critic calls the adaptation busy and exhausting with too much plot and unexciting action, labeling it a charmless chore despite polished visuals. Josh Gad's humor attempt is noted but the overall experience fails to engage.

The critic finds the film misguided and devoid of magic, mangling the source books by turning the amoral Artemis into a blandly good hero who quickly befriends his fairy captive. It singles out Josh Gad's performance as the best element amid mostly failed efforts from the adult cast and awkward attempts at wit.

Kenneth Branagh directs this family-fantasy-by-numbers adapted from Eoin Colfer’s bestselling teen novels. Judi Dench has one or two moderately funny lines and there is an amusing setpiece, but images and characters bounce around like shapes on a screensaver and only two performances have any fizz.

The movie lacks any trace of wonder or joy in its world-building, relies on recycled visuals and uninteresting action, and shows no faith in the audience's ability to follow the story without excessive exposition.

The review deems the film an incomprehensible YA adaptation lacking an effective star, good effects, coherency, and any sense of magic, destined to be forgotten.

The adaptation has been scrubbed and sanitized for a younger audience, resulting in something safe, generic and utterly disposable off an assembly line. Storytelling feels mechanical rather than enchanting.

The adaptation is called a stagnant CGI orgy that goes nowhere, with the hero barely moving physically or emotionally and conflict simply dropped on his doorstep; social ills are treated as frivolous punchlines.

The critic calls it an underwhelming misfire that smooths out the books' rough edges into something too bland for older viewers and compromised by post-production cuts. It singles out the lack of darkness or depth compared to Harry Potter films as a key failing.

Kenneth Branagh’s film has no reason to exist other than to spawn sequels. It is an overstuffed grab bag that projects nothing beyond a desire to kick-start a franchise.

The critic calls it a shoddy, baffling misfire and an exercise in how not to adapt a YA novel, criticizing the rushed plot, poor world-building, and lack of magic or spark. Praises Josh Gad and newcomer Lara McDonnell as minor bright spots.

The movie turns the criminal mastermind into a precocious do-gooder and is a downright awful misfire with noise, garish CGI and convoluted mythology. Screenwriters took a not-very-good book and made it worse.

The critic deems the film 'Fowl, but far from fair,' slamming the earnest half-baked fairy story, turgid expository dialogue, awkward staging, heavy CGI and miscasting of Judi Dench as a leprechaun, calling the whole thing away with the fairies.

It’s nonsensical, confusing and bears all the hallmarks of being constructed in a catatonic post-production haze. The truth is that it doesn’t matter where you start with Artemis Fowl. Because you will always finish in the same place — with a turgid, soulless, cack-handed mess.

The critic finds the adaptation colorful and cinematic but criticizes the softened, less interesting protagonist Artemis, who lacks the anti-hero edge of the books; praises the fairy world, visuals, and supporting performances like Judi Dench and Josh Gad.

The adaptation feels abridged and messy with a breathless plot and perfunctory characters, but offers some fun setpieces, impressive effects, and grotesque designs. Josh Gad's performance as Mulch provides the main highlight amid an overall lack of impact from the lead and villain.

The review notes that the film will annoy book fans with changes that soften Artemis into a hero rather than anti-hero, and fails to engage newcomers with its familiar story and mixed execution.

The critic finds the film baffling and muddled, with a screenplay that fails to clarify characters or stakes. They note some strong performances from the young leads as a minor positive amid the confusion.

The critic concludes there is not enough magic in Kenneth Branagh's fantasy adventure, which pays lip service to myth before settling for an efficient Hollywood plot. It singles out the stateliness of Branagh’s directorial style and Patrick Doyle’s music as tantalizing but ultimately insufficient against the silliness.

The critic finds the film a frenetic and unmagical Disney-fied version of the YA books that leaves viewers wanting less. It singles out the busy effects work and the neutering of the title character's edgy, darker traits as key flaws.

The critic finds Kenneth Branagh's adaptation a joyless, incoherent slog largely confined to Fowl Manor with hollow plotting and bad VFX. The impressive production design stands out amid the lack of three-dimensional characters or emotional stakes.

The film is a misbegotten mess with confusing character motivations, half-hearted emotional attempts, and weak humor, made worse by limited scope and poor performances from Josh Gad and Judi Dench. It is not worth even the short runtime on Disney+.

The critic deems the film an astounding failure both as an adaptation and as an entertaining movie. They single out the joyless, exposition-heavy plot and poor CGI for particular complaint.