The Addams Family

The Addams Family ... it's been a while since I saw the live Action movie. And I think I only saw the first movie and not the show or anything else. Still the music is quite iconic ... and it gets introduced here in a very funny way too.

The Addams Family may be morbid, but never too scary for the viewer ... as crazy as it may sound ... like a house yelling at you to get out. Of course for the Addams Family this is music to their ears. But as they are not something anyone would call normal .. they have issues. The moment we meet them ... and later on too. Btw. The latter part of the movie, where mayhem ensues is the one that is the most fun of it all (imho).

A nice little movie that apparently was succesful enough to warrant an upcoming sequel ... great voice/acting talent too.

Look, I like kids films. Simple, funny. Pixar nails it, Illumination is a close second, but I'll say that even the subpar Abominable was better than this. This was...what? Halloween? A dig on HGTV? A chance for actors to make a paycheck between blockbusters by lending their voices to make a decent cast? I rate kids movies based on the reactions by my kids. I've never seen my kid sit for 90 minutes waiting for a punchline then look at me wondering if we're supposed to leave or stay for the movie to make a point.

After getting a couple of live action versions of "The Addams Family'' in the 90's (which I loved), we get an animated version. Gomez (voiced by Oscar Isaac) is still crazy in love with Morticia (voiced by Charlize Theron). Wednesday (voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz) is still a monotone harbinger of doom and Pugsley (voiced by Finn Wolfhard) is still the frequent object of Wednesday's experiments to get rid of him.

This movie could be considered The Addams Family origin story. It begins when Gomez and Morticia are just getting married and also being ran out of town by an angry mob. They find Lurch (voiced by Conrad Vernon) and also find an old asylum at the top of a spooky hill to be their new digs. For them it was perfect. Life was spooktacular for them for thirteen years until a "Flip or Flop" type TV show led by a woman named Margaux Needler (voiced by Allison Janney) decided to renovate the town below the Addamses. This new town of Assimilation was everything antithetical to the Addams: it was clean, colorful, cheery, and full of Stepford people. A town such as this would not have a good value while being under the shadow of the Addams Family's dark derelict lair.

While Margaux plotted to make the Addams conform, Wednesday was going through a rebellious stage and even put a barrett in her hair, and Pugsley was having a difficult time learning the Marsuka (an Addams Family sword dance that was a right of passage). The Addams were facing a crisis of sorts. "The Addams Family" was mildly amusing and fairly entertaining. I don't think there needed to be an animated version, but that's Hollywood now: animate what was once live action and make live action what was once animated.

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 have been a big fan of the Addams Family since I saw the first movie, and looked forward to seeing this on the big screen.

The movie was OK. It was an entertaining hour and a half, but it does not inspire repeated viewing. It actually seems more appropriate as a movie pilot for a new children's show than it does for a movie.

The people who created this obviously had a lot of love for the property, and seemed to have fun with it, which translates well to the screen. But coupled with the thin plot and less than stellar design, there is a lot to be desired.

One bright spot was the first 10 minutes, which served as a sort of an origin story for the clan. I really wish that they had gone that route instead of the by the numbers route they chose for their final product.