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.

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.

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.