Die Addams Family 2

The 2019 animated Addams Family movie was average. The Addams Family 2 was less than that. I don't know exactly what happened in the writers' room as they were creating this half-baked sequel, but it seems as if the humor well ran dry pretty early. The story runs out of steam early on and they just start repeating jokes (usually the bodily function type) to try and liven things up. It doesn't work. The plot is quite thin, too, and yet they try very hard to stretch it out to the required runtime. The animation was interesting, I guess, but watching this sequel just left me feeling underwhelmed.

Movies targeted towards children are often basic, cheap, and pointless. The Addams Family 2 is a prime example. While this production markets familiar characters with interesting traits, they are woefully underutilized. Many problems plague this film but the most glaring issue is the lack of a clear goal. Yes, there is an overarching plot that contemplates the meaning of family, but that is forced and formulaic. Meanwhile, several scenes are detours that contribute nothing to that larger narrative. Consequently, the story is a stale patchwork that reduces our beloved characters to bystanders in their own movie.

Beyond that, The Addams Family 2 offers very little from a filmmaking perspective. The cinematography is occasionally interesting but hardly redeeming. The editing is underdone (likely due to scant material). The soundtrack is just wrong because it prioritizes contemporary pop over setting a specific tone. The production design is surprisingly bland for a film about such stylish characters. Lastly, the CGI looks cheap, lacking the detail of current animated movies. This all gives The Addams Family 2 a hollow and generic feel that undercuts whatever slight impact it could've had. Undoubtedly, this is a film worth skipping.

Writing: 2/10 Direction: 1/10 Cinematography: 6/10 Acting: 4/10 Editing: 3/10 Sound: 5/10 Score/Soundtrack: 3/10 Production Design: 4/10 Casting: 6/10 Effects: 3/10

Overall Score: 3.7/10.

The story has all the ingredients (road trip!) but never got off the ground, and no great message like the original had either. That film was actually great and funny, but this one? Give it a miss.

The characters were overall enjoyable, retaining the same uniqueness and quirkiness shown in the first movie. Despite the creativity in the sequel, I feel that it was exaggerated in its attempt to be entertaining... with many jokes that were not even funny. The movie felt very disjointed with lots of random scenes that I believe did not make sense. It may be true that a younger audience may be the primary target and so a flow in the storyline may not be important. However, I also did not appreciate some of the scenes showing violence between the siblings (e.g., strangling with a pillow). Again, this may be the Addams family being peculiar but it would have been useful to underline that such behaviour is not to be repeated at home.

These cartoons should have a distinct goth vibe along with comedy. This just doesn't capture what it should. Less bouncy pop/hip hop music that doesn't fit with The Addams family and no inane pop culture references that will get old fast and lose all meaning. Do you really need lines about squad goals and totes taking selfies? Companies that make these don't seem to understand that kids would completely understand a darker version of this.

Comedian and writer Melissa Hunter used to do a youtube series called Adult Wednesday Addams where she played the now grown up Wednesday. It was funny and original. Although other people now uploaded it on youtube again she herself was forced to delete everything from her channel by whoever is in charge of The Addams Family brand. It was extremely popular with Addams Family fans. I would love to know how she was hurting the brand with her original stories and her great dark humor, but these cartoons with their ridiculousness aren't?