Die Addams Family

Not sure what movie the majority of the critics have seen, for I saw a fairly entertaining reimagining of everyone's favorite family of ghouls that was not only very funny but also had a surprising amount of heart to it. It is not a great, but it is solid enough and the casting for the Addams proves to be brilliantly selected.

I am an avid fan of the Addams family, and rewatch their movies each Halloween season. When I saw there was to be an animated re-make, I pictured it to be a mixture of the timelessness of their previous films and the entertainment of The Nightmare Before Christmas - fun for the whole family. However, as a young adult, I was not in the least bit entertained. The story line was definitely created for children, depicting the importance of inclusion/acceptance and family bond. Which I'm sure is very important for the younger generations. Yet I just was unable to connect with my long-standing enthusiasm for the Addams family during this movie.

The intention here is obviously to introduce a new generation to the Addams Family. The film starts completely fresh and tells the origins of the entire family as a stand alone film. As someone who grew up watching the 90s films, cartoons, and re-runs I actually didn't mind this. They presented a straightforward well contained story that has plenty of jokes for both children and adults, which I laughed at enough of to stay entertained throughout the film.

I enjoyed most of the film. It is not perfect. the biggest gripe is that I can tell that the original screenplay was re-written. Now, as a child could I tell this? NO, and that is the primary audience. I think adults forget when they watch a movie primarily targeted to children that it will not totally appeal to them. Now, some exceptions to my enjoyment of children's films is the new terrible 2018 Grinch, which was so bad I could tell even the children were not entertained and I actually walked out of theater, this coming from an adult whom enjoys children's films. The problem with the Addams Family, lies in the two major plots, that of Margeaux, and that of Wednesday, the former feels resolved, and the latter does not, I solely blame script revisions on this, there are indeed 5 screenwriters named according to IMDB.

Despite this, I found the film engaging, fun, and funny. I felt it kept both spirit of the TV show and previous films, while adding something new. I don't regret seeing it, and, in fact, I might watch it again. It was well-animated, though I am not a huge fan of how they made Gomez look here, I can overlook it because the film, was on the whole, fun, entertaining, and other than a couple elements; very un-PC, which is very refreshing in this current trend to push hyper PC content that seeks to please a select group, and pleases no one.

If you are looking for family friendly affair that has a bit of adult humor, you could do a heck of a lot worse. On the whole, this is fun, with lots of dark humor, and tons of satire. The first half an hour is really a joy to watch, it is full of quirky and dark humor, if it could have maintained that for the whole film, it would be a classic, but as it remains, it is a decent way to pass 100 minutes. It is something both adults and children should be able to enjoy. At it's heart, it is about how some conformity is not good, some conformity can be beneficial, and the benefits of reaching a compromise. It emphasizes being who you and making your own decision about what you believe as most important. It deserves to make decent money, but with the current hyper PC culture, it might not, which is a shame, it is nice to see a film that, while not totally being defiant of the hype PC culture, at least defies some elements of it.

God Bless~Amy

The Addams family 2019 is a very run of the mill animated film that ends up feeling very average. Being a major fan of The Addams Family from the original films from the 90s I was really disappointed with the film. Our story follows the entire Addams family years after they have moved into their mansion being hidden there for years after being chased away by angry civilians. Now since to a new house flip tv show, they are discovered with the show host wanting to destroy their house to make it fit in with the neighborhood. On top of that Pugsly Addams is having to prepare to do a famous sword pattern that is a tradition to prove he is truly an Addams. In front of the entire Addams family and all their relatives. This subplot with Pugsly is one of many there is even another one about Wednesday Addams trying to fit in at school becoming an issue with the film having too many subplots. The main message of the film is one we have heard 100 times with accepting people in your town who are different because we are all unique in our own ways. This is a good message for kids but the message is shoved in way too much, and they don't reinvent the presentation of the message in any way, or try anything new to make it more interesting. I thought the film never fully did the characters justice especially the family relationship aspect. It had a few great performances that being Chole Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams and Charlize Theron as Morticia Addams. Some of the imagery can be pretty cool with the house, using the character designs from the original comic strip and some scenes have good humor. Major issues with the film are in the story being extremely basic and not taking many risks. With like I mentioned earlier way too many subplots that can be extremely uninteresting. Overall The Addams family ends up being just okay with a few good moments sprinkled throughout but having an extremely basic story and not going all the way with the family's classic humor, dark style.