Review of The Addams Family (2019) by Davrosdaleks1 — 12 Oct 2019

This knows how to have fun. The new animated Addams Family movie delivers what you want from the titular family: spades of dark humor jokes.

The movie successfully delivers when it comes to the four main family members. (Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) and Granny (Bette Midler) are just okay.) Gomez (Oscar Isaacs) is the congenial family man with a zest for life. Morticia is the over-protective mother whose viewpoint you understand. Though the movie does have the parents be a little more sentimental than some portrayals, I do think it still captured the core of the characters. More effort is put into characterization for Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard) than a lot of previous versions. Let's be honest, Wednesday is usually the sibling that pulls focus. Speaking of which, this version is not much different. This Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz) gives the Christina Ricci version a run for her money. This is by far the most unnervingly emotionless one, and the animated format is able to do things to increase her creepiness that you couldn't do in animation.

The story, though, is very basic. It is the trope of the "normies" vs. the misunderstood monsters with predictable parent-child rifts. The normal people, especially villainous home renovator Margaux Needler (Allison Janney), are pretty predictable and uninteresting. I've seen Janney do good voice work before but here it feels like she's trying for a vocal quality she is never able to quite capture.

This appears to be a modestly budgeted film so don't expect Pixar, Disney, or Dreamworks-quality animation. I found the character design for a lot of the townsfolk to be disappointing. Though I did eventually get accustomed to it, the decision to make Morticia's face look like a skull wasn't what I felt to be the best option for the character. It felt a little at odds with the original New Yorker cartoon and previous animated versions. I think it's the chin that's the main issue. It was a little too long. I did like the decoration of the Addams Family house.

I do prefer the two 90's live-action versions over this. This one is more of a children's movie, and the original ones being for an older audience were able to go darker and more-over-the-top. This movie also has less of a distinct identity than its predecessors. (Though in fairness, what can you expect with any Addams Family movie without Raoul Julia?) I can't say this is the greatest animated kids film, either. However, it is an enjoyable time waster for the family.