The Addams Family is the newest animated film, based on the comic strip by Charles Addams. The film focuses on newlyweds, Gomez and Morticia Addams (Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron), moving into their new home in which they raise their family away from society. However, society comes to them, when Margaux Needler (Allison Janney) establishes a town underneath the creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky family, and soon aims to do away with them and their weirdness.
Ever since the 1960’s with the release of the sitcom, The Addams Family has been a major part of Halloween for most kids. A family that finds normality in the obscene is what they’ve been known for, and throughout the years with each new interpretation. Of course, the version that people are most familiar with is the Barry Sonnenfield duology, which both do a great job of realizing these characters in that moment in time, but still keeping the tone and writing in tact. The first film was originally set to be helmed by Tim Burton, but the task ended up going to Sonnenfield, known at the time for his cinematography for Misery, and he did a fantastic job bringing the comic strip to life. I will admit, as much as I love the late-Raul Julia’s performance, Jon Astin’s Gomez is always going to be my Gomez.
They’ve also been no strangers to animation, being they’ve had two shows produced by Hanna-Barbara: one in the 70’s that spawned from an earlier crossover with The New Scooby-Doo Movies, and the other in the 90’s, which more people my age are more familiar with. An animated movie had been rumored for a while, with even Tim Burton planning to come back and do it as a stop-motion film, but it wasn’t until Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan were put in charge that things got rolling. This concerned me a bit, not because they previously made Sausage Party, but rather their method of how the film was getting done; let’s not forget, one of them was enforcing slave labor and blacklisting animators, without any overtime pay. It wasn’t until earlier in the year, when the Canadian government had this resolved, so now I was confident things were taken care of and there wasn’t any shady business.
For their first time in computer animation, the Addams look pretty good; I like how they’re designed closer to their original designs from the comic strip, including the extremely thin Morticia and pudgy Gomez. At times, the designs and extras can look a little too simple, but nothing out of place with the world. And with a budget that’s a fraction to what Pixar uses nowadays, they do make the most with their budget when it comes to the Addams. I was surprisingly pleased to see them recreate the original 60’s show’s intro, frame for frame. And while this is more child appropriate than Sausage Party, that’s not to say there aren’t any gags for adults, especially when you start to think about the villain’s resolve. My favorite gag was when Morticia blushes deep red, and a bat bites her neck, sucking her back to a pale tone; that’s clever.
Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron have excellent chemistry together; whether in live action or animation, these two make a great Gomez and Morticia, right down to the French talk. Nick Kroll and Bette Midler were fine as Uncle Fester and Grandmama (even though with Kroll, all I could think was Coach Steve from Big Mouth). However, the scene stealer is Chloe Grace Moretz as Wednesday, the oldest Addams child; she nailed the mischievous and macabre presence that’s needed for the character, and always had me laughing whenever she was at school. I especially love the scene where she and her friend, Parker (Elsie Fisher), switch styles to freak their moms out (classic Wednesday)! The only one who’s voice didn’t seem to fit was Finn Wolfhard as Pugsley; I hate to sound like an ageist, but I thought he made him sound too old, for someone who’s supposed to sound like a ten-year old kid.
Where my biggest problems with the film truly lie are with the writing. I will admit, the first act with Gomez and Morticia’s wedding was the best part handled part of the movie, because after that, we head into REALLY cliche Saturday morning cartoon writing. The villain, Margeaux (Allison Janney), is this manipulative reality show host with a Napoleon complex, all to an Orwellian point that’s kind of disturbing...as if being reminded that a reality show host is spying on all of us wasn’t bad enough.
The dialogue and pacing also tend to jolt between being funny, then tediously annoying. Sometimes, there will be gags that either come out of nowhere or carry obvious animation errors that I noticed (such as arrows hitting Uncle Fester). I do respect the film trying to put out this message of conformity and freedom need a neutral balance in society, but it got so on the nose, that it really slowed the film down for me, and it’s not even 90 minutes. It also has some story arcs that you feel like get resolved pretty easily, despite how dire they’re made out to be, and that can get pretty disappointing on repeat. Also, things end up going back to the way they used to, which is VERY sitcom-y.
Overall, while The Addams Family (2019) isn’t a bad film, it’s definitely a disappointment for me. Despite the strong first act and most of the cast and animation, it just seemed like there wasn’t really much to do with these characters. There are some good sequences that make it worth a watch, but not enough to warrant a movie ticket, if you ask me.
Rating: C
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