♬ It’s creepy and it’s kooky, but it’s missing Christina Ricci … ♬
Director(s): Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon
Writer(s): Matt Lieberman, Pamela Pettler
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, Martin Short, Allison Janney, Catherine O’Hara, Titus Burgess, Elsie Fisher
Synopsis
When the Addams family move into an abandoned (and haunted) insane asylum, it seems like the perfect home. However, they fail to realise that a new-build town lies nearby, and the local residents aren’t exactly happy to about the eyesore now sitting on a hill above the town …
Main review
It’s been a while since The Addams Family has been in the cinema mainstream. After two critically successful movies in the early 1990s (launching the career of Christina Ricci, in particular), The Addams Family fell off the radar. Given the time that has elapsed, bringing back America’s favourite Gothic family makes a certain amount of sense, as does moving over the latest adaptation to animation. The main issue is that this new adaptation simply can’t get out of the shadow of the Barry Sonnenfeld films of the 1990s.
To the credit of the new adapation, basing the animation style on the original drawing of the Charles Addams comic strip from the 1960s, is a nice touch. It gives The Addams Family (2019) a distinct animation style and emphasises the grotesque, in a way that perhaps live action cannot. Little touches like Wednesday’s pigtails being shaped like nooses, puts across the balance between the absurd and the macabre.However, sadly, this is not held up by the quality of the writing.
Key to the success of the Sonnenfeld films were the scripts. Christina Ricci’s Wednesday Addams is iconic, but she was also aided by some very sharp writing, such as the now famous ‘Thanksgiving‘ scene from Adams Family Values. The problem with The Addams Family (2019) is that the story just feels bland. There is little satirical bite, and a lot of the jokes simply don’t land as well as they should. For example, an entire subplot about Wednesday going ‘reverse goth’ is much funnier on paper than the execution (heh).
The Addams Family (2019) ultimately plays it safe, which is a shame, because despite being a family film (even the Sonnenfeld films were only rated ‘PG’), The Addams Family (2019) could have been a far better film, is it had taken some creative risks. The voice cast is excellent, but they do feel wasted. Chloe Grace Moretz’s Wednesday Addams would have been far more interesting with some stronger writing. The Addams Family (2019) is a bit creepy, and it’s certainly certainly kooky, but it’s missing that extra bit of devilishness that could always be seen behind Christina Ricci’s eyes …
Pros
- The voice cast is excellent.
- The fact that Wednesday Addams’ pigtails look like hangman’s nooses.
- The character design is a nice callback to the original comic strip drawings by Charles Addams.
Cons
- The film is simply a bit bland; it doesn’t have the sharp wit of the Sonnenfeld films.
- The script doesn’t have any particularly memorable jokes, such as the whole ‘Thanksgiving’ sequence from Addams Family Values.
- The film never feels like it takes any creative risks.
- The ‘reverse goth’ subplot with Wednesday should be much funnier than it ends up being …
In a nutshell …
The character design is a nice nod to the original comic strip, and there is a certain logic to adapting The Addams Family as a CGI animation. However, besides some nice voice work, the tone simply feels a bit tame, given what came before, particularly the Barry Sonnenfeld films of the early 1990s. There’s too much kook and not enough creep, and try as she might, Chloe Grace Moretz will never reach the heights of Christina Ricci’s iconic performance as Wednesday Addams.
Cinema and silliness 