DVD Review: The Addams Family (2019 animated)

The Addams Family
[DVD j Addams]

I initially avoided seeing this film because I grew up on the original Addams Family B&W series (ABC 1964-66), starring John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Ted Cassidy and Jackie Coogan, and all subsequent adaptations of Charles Addams’ morbid comics have paled in comparison. I’ve ultimately grown to appreciate the two live-action feature films from 1991 and 1993, which starred Raul Julia, Angelica Huston, Christopher Lloyd, Christina Ricci and others. The stills I’d seen from this new 2019 Addams Family animated film didn’t inspire me to think I’d like it.

 

I’m please to say I was happily surprised. This version of The Addams Family is a marvelous little film. It tells an “origin story” for the family, and how they ended up settling into a crumbling gothic mansion on a hillside above a bland suburban town. Because of the open-ended nature of animation, this film provided the filmmakers with plenty of fertile ground for dark humor and absurd action sequences. But, as should always be the case with the Addams family, it is the characters that drive the film’s plot. Oscar Isaac does a fine job as Gomez Addams, however this film is completely stolen by the performances of main female characters. Charlize Theron is mesmerizing as Morticia, and Chloe Grace Moretz is unforgettable as a disturbingly monotone Wednesday Addams.

 

The plot, in a nutshell, involves a reality TV star, Allison Janney as Margeaux Needler, who has created an entire community of “made over” suburban tract homes in the nearby community. When a fog lifts and the Addams’ mansion is revealed, Margeaux realizes that her live-tv event to unveil her entire town of blandness is going to be ruined by the Addams house, unless she can either give them a “home makeover” or drive them away from the community. Meanwhile, explosives-obsessed Pugsley is approaching a ceremony that his father Gomez feels he is ill-equipped to successfully accomplish — an elaborate swordplay demonstration. With dozens of creepy, kooky relatives descending on the mansion, the conflict between the oddball Addamses and the cookie-cutter suburbanites comes to a head.

 

This is a funny, absurdist romp. Though no-one will ever replace John Astin as Gomez and Carolyn Jones as Morticia, nor Christina Ricci as Wednesday, for my money, these voice actors do an excellent job. And the culture clash between wildly divergent character types is well done in this film. I definitely recommend this 2019 film — it’s a worthy addition to the Addams Family history, though I still recommend the old 1960s TV show even more!

[To explore the original cartoons that have inspired ALL subsequent films/tv-series, check out The World of Chas Addams, an oversized collection of the master’s works.] [ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ]

See Scott’s review of The World of Chas Addams, from the October 2006 Staff Recommendations on BookGuide!

 

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library – Public Service

 

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