Wednesday, October 30, 2019

Movie Review: "The Addams Family"

The Addams Family (2019 film).png

Review Summary: Not bad, but not memorable either.

Ok, I will admit, I'm not incredibly familiar with The Addams Family. The one time I've seen these characters (in media form) was in a Scooby-Doo episode on Boomerang years ago. I guess it was enough to at least be aware of them and what they were about. And, yes, while a computer-animated version seemed likely, I'm not sure if anyone expected much out of it. I know I certainly didn't.

Perhaps my low expectations helped me enjoy this movie more than I thought I would. Because Addams has enough entertaining moments, interesting jokes and characters to make it at least somewhat watchable. I can't quite call it a winner, but I can't call it a loser either. For re-emerging distributor MGM, this first animated effort is definitely not big-studio fare, but is also definitely better than most low-budget animated efforts of recent memory.

The animation style is decent, even if its' far from the best animation to come in recent memory. Every now and then, I enjoy a cartoon with a true "cartoony" feel instead of the photorealistic stuff we see nowadays. Based on the characters' looks and some creative segments, Addams offers somewhat of a throwback vibe that works pretty well.

Overall, the voicework is fairly mixed. The standouts include Oscar Isaac as Gomez, Bette Midler as the grandmother, and Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester. Kroll, in particular, steals the show with a Laurel and Hardy-style vibe to his comedic antics as the overly-silly uncle. On more of the downside, Charlize Theron doesn't quite step up to the plate as Morticia. She was an inspired choice for the part, but she's restrained by a relatively monotone performance. I wish she was given better material. 

Chloe Grace Moretz is also somewhat restrained at times too, though her character is given the most screentime of the bunch. As the villain of the story, Allison Janney seems miscast. She's too nice in her overall tone to really play a convincing villain. Snoop Dogg was cast as cousin "It", and he's pretty much wasted in a role that has his voice "Chipmunked" and really sped up.

The story is basically a culture vs. culture story and what happens when family members intermingle. It's executed nicely for the most part, with a solid split in screentime between both sides. None of the Addams seem to underwhelm in terms of screentime, which is also a positive. Some have pointed out obvious political overtones in this film, but for my interpretation, I didn't really see much of any like I did with Maleficent last week.

The opening with Morticia and Gomez's wedding is fairly effective. But the film does, however, turn in a relatively manic direction heading into its' last half-hour. Wednesday's predictable running away from home to the mob scene is all handled with very little room to breathe. The rest of the film builds appropriately, but the resulting conflict could have been done in a more tasteful way honestly.

Some jokes are nicely-done, with the most memorable of the film being Lurch playing different tunes on the organ before finally getting onto the famous theme. Hilariously, he plays Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood's theme music at one point also. There's a few clever references to other horror films placed throughout.

In the end, this Addams Family doesn't quite do enough to really stand out as the film tries to encourage us to do. However, at 87 minutes, it succeeds enough in entertaining us without overstaying its' welcome.

My Score: 6.3/10

Content Concerns for Family Viewing...


Rating: PG (for macabre and suggestive humor, and some action)

Recommended age range: 9 and up.

Language: Freaking out, a teenage girl uses "oh my g**" in shock a handful of times. Beyond that, there's some name-calling, but nothing else offensive.

Adult Content: Some skin-tight and slinky outfits. People lose their pants a few times (they are shown in underwear). We hear of someone putting underwear in the freezer. Thing, an independent hand, is seen looking on the internet at bare ladies' feet (this is meant to be a wink at pornography). Grandmother says at one point, "When you're done with Fabio, send him up to my room!" Uncle Fester flashes his naked body to people at one point (we only see a bunch of bats fly out). Fester shows he has a crush on Margeaux (the villainness) on a handful of occasions.

Drugs/Alcohol: None.

Violence: A lot of explosions courtesy of Pugsley. We see him fall from a high distance at one point. Wednesday fires her crossbow repeatedly, hitting Uncle Fester in deadly ways that don't seem to hurt him really. Gomez's head is squeezed hard in a vice. Pugsley is knocked out and buried. A living tree throws Pugsley into his house. Wednesday and Morticia are nearly beheaded at one point each. An extended action scene includes boulders knocking down walls and chasing other family members, and other explosions used. Blood is seen dripping from a wall at one point. Someone is hit by a car, other slapstick situations, etc.

Other: Wednesday repeatedly tries to lure Pugsley to his doom. There's a song sang by kids saying, "it's easy to be happy when you have no choice", hinting at sameness. A friend of Wednesday is bullied (she gets vengeance on her in science class). Wednesday resurrects frogs using science. Morticia uses a ouija board and a crystal ball to talk to her dead parents at one point. Comments and lies are used by Margeaux to try and get them to rally against the Addams. The grandmother talks about her cheating and lying ways, and encourages Pugsley to do the same.