Die Addams Family

Generally, speaking this a pretty "fun movie" for most people, kids and adults. I think "fun" is the adjective most people would use in describing this film.

As one who remembered the television series, I thought I would check this out, too. Angelica Huston certainly didn't match Carolyn Jones' beauty but she, along with Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd and Christinia Ricci all were entertaining to watch.

There certainly were no end to the colorful imagines, unique scenes and dialog, special-effects and - for those with a surround system, good sound. It all made for an entertaining and fast-moving film.

I didn't find a lot of laugh-out-loud moments but it did bring a lot of smiles to my face. A lot of this is dark humor, so it helps to appreciate that type of comedy.

A good, nay great, movie version to the classic 60s series. Raul Julia is great as Gomez, as is Christopher Lloyd as Fester. The story is sound, pretty much better than the sequel. This is a comedy with slightly dark themes, but that doesn't mean the family can not enjoy it. Barry Sonnenfeld is a genius.

The Addams are an unique wealthy macabre family. Their corrupted lawyer Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya) owns money to a loan shark. Together they plot to inject a fake Uncle Fester Addams (Christopher Lloyd) into the family so he could search for the family treasure of gold Doubloons.

Barry Sonnenfeld has created a well made Gothic Addams world. The family is played by Anjelica Huston, Raul Julia, and Christina Ricci as young Wednesday Addams. This is mostly amusing especially what Wednesday keep doing to Pugsley. All the performers are wonderful. They have all the fun creating these amazing characters. The whole setup is incredibly inventive. The story itself is a bit of a grind. It would be better for the Family to clash more with the 'normal' suburban life. The regular jobs are funny. The kids should wreck havoc on regular school. That's the better sweet spot.

The Addams family are far from being normal but they are rich and as such are their attorney's only chance of getting rich. Tully has debts up the yazoo and the only thing that stops his knees being violently replaced with fresh air is the fact that Abigail Craven's son Gordon looks eerily like Gomez's missing brother Fester. Shaving his head, Gordon enters the Addams home as Fester and tries to use his spare time to get into the family vault. However Gomez's joy at his return is gradually marred by a sneaking feeling that Fester is not himself – meanwhile Wednesday has no such doubts at all and is out to expose the impostor.

One of the few remakes that actually works, The Addams Family takes the Gothic humour of the TV series and makes it feel fresh and entertaining. The story is essentially a nail for us to hang our coats on so we can watch the gags come but even with this it is actually pretty good. Making one of the family a "new character" is a clever way of adding to the formula without having to bring in new characters to lead the film and it does work. Within this frame the twisted comedy is rather entertaining and, although rarely laugh out loud funny, it is still consistently amusing and enjoyable.

The cast are roundly good. Julia is a perfect Gomez and Huston is a great Morticia despite the latter being a fairly one-note affair. Lloyd is enjoyable in the lead and manages to do well to carry the "new character" aspect of Fester without disrupting the dynamic of the family. Ricci is excellent and the only downside is that the film doesn't give her enough to do; Workman is also good and has good chemistry with her. Hedaya, Wilson, Ivey and others are strong in support and generally do well to shore up the story.

Overall a kooky affair that is enjoyable in you are in the mood for its particular brand of dark silliness. The plot is more than enough to act as a frame, the jokes maybe don't hit many real highs but they do consistently get very close to the target and the fact that the actors all buy into the joke makes it that little bit better. An enjoyable remake that succeeds because it has the strength to stand as its own beast.

Uncle Fester appears to have come home after a long period of absence, but is he an imposter?

This is a pretty good comedy with great performances, a decent amount of jokes and some memorable scenes.

The plot is for me the weakest aspect of the movie, but it gets us from start to finish and importantly allows for the characters and their actors to shine as much as possible.

I enjoy the visuals which are very atmospheric, entertaining and technically well done. The cinematography and editing is excellent with lots of great shot compositions and lively camera movement. One of my favourite moments is the dance between Gomez and Morticia in the dark empty ballroom that superbly transitions mid dip to the actual ball in full swing.

The production design is perfect for the tone of the film with wonderful set design in the Addams house, along with great costumes and props.

It is the acting that gives it the extra quality, with Raúl Juliá on fantastic form as Gomez and Angelica Huston perfect as Morticia. Christina Ricci shows glimpses of the quality to come in her great Addams Family Values performance.