31
Metascore
33 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 50Boston GlobeMark FeeneyBoston GlobeMark FeeneyOne wonders if a director more playful than Kenneth Branagh might have come up with something less hectic and more fun — or even just as hectic and more fun. Taika Waititi, anyone? Jojo Rabbit is almost as odd a name as Artemis Fowl.
- 40EmpireHelen O'HaraEmpireHelen O'HaraAn overqualified adult cast and some fun moments can’t entirely compensate for a defanged protagonist and too-static plot. This fantasy desperately needed a little more magic.
- 40The GuardianPeter BradshawThe GuardianPeter BradshawImages and characters bounce around like shapes on a screensaver and only McDonnell and Gad’s performances have any fizz. This is a YA-franchise by numbers.
- 40IGNDavid GriffinIGNDavid GriffinDisney's Artemis Fowl is an empty science fantasy tale with forgettable characters and an uninspired story.
- 40The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeThe Irish TimesDonald ClarkeRarely in the history of cinema has so much tortured exposition failed so completely to explain such an undistinguished plot. It is like trying to pick up the story through overheard conversations with nearby drinkers who have just emerged from a screening. Stop telling us stuff and do something!
- 40The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyJosh Gad takes a valiant stab at landing some mostly groan-worthy humor, and Judi Dench has clearly put in a lot of hours scowling at green screens while wearing pointy ears and eye-catching emerald-green leprechaun army regalia (hey, at least it's not a cat suit). But this big-budget fantasy adventure from Disney is busy and exhausting.
- 38The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzThe Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzA confusing, muddled, sloppy mess of bad intentions and worse execution.
- 33The A.V. ClubRoxana HadadiThe A.V. ClubRoxana HadadiArtemis Fowl, the first Disney movie to have its theatrical release completely scrapped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is bland and incoherent, with paper-thin character development, unimaginative world building, and a lot of daddy issues.
- 33IndieWireKate ErblandIndieWireKate ErblandAnd that, perhaps, is the easiest way to explain its overarching failure: In a film built on a bestselling eight-book series, filled with all manner of magical beings (including Colin Farrell), and rich in fairy tale history, the best scene is one in which its grating narrator farts on a passerby. You didn’t see that in the “Harry Potter” films, and for good reason.
- 10SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiSlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiArtemis Fowl is not just a disappointing adaptation, it’s a badly made movie. Its Frankensteined plot and its shockingly poor CGI — which could have passed in an early 2000s movie, but not in 2020 — leave it no redeeming qualities. It gives me no joy to say that yet another movie adaptation of a beloved childhood property has wasted Colin Farrell.