Overall Score
Rating Summary
The Addams Family have been around in one form or another, starting with the 1991 live-action film of the same name. After sort of disappearing from the conversation, the creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky family are back in an animated film aptly named, The Addams Family. For those who are unfamiliar with the characters, the film serves as a great introduction but for those who are, the novelty of it produces some charming moments but eventually gets old fairly fast. In the end, this is a children’s film and for that, the film definitely delivers, however, the film’s fairly obvious messaging (that’s easy to figure out without watching the film) and the overly repetitive sense of humor, playing into the family’s various quirks, kind of get in the way.
This time around, The Addams Family saw Gomez (Isaac) and Morticia Addams (Theron) attempt to adapt to changing times and finally settle down somewhere safe for them to raise a family. The two would end up calling an abandoned mental institution home (converting it into a mansion) for which they would carve a decent life for themselves and their daughter Wednesday (Moretz) and their son Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard). Though the world around the Addams’ was definitely changing, Gomez and Morticia were arguably stuck in the past. Meanwhile, Wednesday and Pugsley were also getting older. Managing it all would prove to be a challenge until things got worse for them after earning the ire of the people living in the town below including their de facto leader, famed interior designer Margaux Needler (Allison Janney).
Watching the contrast between the Addams and the much different people from the town below play out was somewhat intriguing but there simply wasn’t enough of it here. It was so clear what The Addams Family was trying to hard to do that it was hard to take anything it did seriously. Despite a few admittedly funny moments throughout, it was difficult to care about any of the story. In terms of story, there was not much to be had here as the film seemed uninterested in being something more than its obvious messaging with some repetitive humor, that caters more to younger audiences, sprinkled in. While this combination is sure to entertain children, this combination does get old fairly quickly.
In terms of its animation, The Addams Family is definitely above average with plenty of color and detail, from the various Addams unique features and their creatures to the contrast between the dark and gloomy world of the Addams family and the bright and colorful town with the obviously foreshadowing name of Assimilation. Meanwhile, the voice acting was fine across the board, doing their best with the material that was given to them. It may have been on the bland side but they made it work. Moretz’s monotone (or deadpan) delivery in particular was entertaining.
In the end, The Addams Family succeeds at providing decent entertainment for children over its sub 90 minute running time but lacks enough substance to give it any staying power.
*still courtesy of Universal Pictures*
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.