The Addams Family 2
October 1st, 2021
MOVIE: THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2
STARRING: OSCAR ISAAC, CHARLIZE THERON, CHLOE GRACE MORETZ, NICK KROLL, BILL HADER
DIRECTED BY: CONRAD VERNON, GREG TIERNAN, LAURA BROUSSEAU
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 1 STAR (Out of 4)
I wasn’t a fan of the first animated version of The Addams Family and now there is The Addams Family 2 and I’m still not a fan. The animation has been updated, looking much better than the Saturday morning cartoon look the first one had, but this time the plot is a meandering mess, a predictable sequel storyline, failing to understand any of the reasons why The Addams Family can be fun in the first place. With an all-star cast of actors returning to voice the ghoulish gang of characters, it’s not that I’m out of touch with an animated movie, or that I’m not a fan of The Addams Family, it’s that this romp with Gomez, Morticia, and the rest is not much fun.
The action starts at Wednesday Addams’ (voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz) school science fair, her presentation involving an experiment of mixing the DNA of an octopus with her uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) to give him a smarter mind than he typically has. It’s a fascinating display, but Wednesday is embarrassed by her family and their silly ways, with brother Pugsley (Javon Walton) pathetically trying to impress girls at school, Fester too dumb to know a rubix cube isn’t food, while parents Gomez (Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron) are too occupied to care about their daughter’s brilliance. When a lawyer (voiced by legend Wallace Shawn) arrives to tell Gomez that his client- a scientist named Cyrus (Bill Hader), who has information that Wednesday isn’t their biological child. In order to avoid what could be an awful truth, Gomez takes the family on a freaky fun road trip, with hopes to bond closer together by having a visit to niagara falls, see cousin It (voiced by Snoop Dog) on the Florida beach, and gleefully blow up the Grand Canyon. It could be a fun family movie ramping up to Halloween season, but instead it’s a sugar rush, injected into one big animated product placement.
A movie like The Addams Family 2 is an example of the absolute worst of the animated film genre. The direction is by the team behind Sausage Party– Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon, and Laura Brousseau, while the screenplay is written by Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit; Even if one would view it all as harmless, there’s nothing of substance or of enjoyment out of this version of The Addams Family. Mixed in-between the road trip are drops of pop-hip-hop songs and advertisements for Progressive Insurance. The humor and the entire tone of who The Addams Family is completely lost. It’s not funny for kids or parents, with brutal quips, such as Wednesday calling a trio of tortured Salem witches “Squad goals”, and it resembles nothing charming from The Addams Family TV show or Barry Sonnenfeld’s classic live-action films. This interpretation is scary bad.
If there are any positives to mention about The Addams Family 2 it is that the animation details look bright and crisp. That’s about it. Lurch is pretty cool. There’s a subplot about Granny (voiced by Bette Midler) throwing a house party that’s completely pointless as well. Directors Tiernan and Vernon tend to have a twisted sense of humor, inspired by Looney Tunes or Ren & Stimpy, but the efforts at comedy are too out of left field, treating every character as idiots more than delightfully different. The narrative is also just lacking in creativity, seemingly falling into the same path as the Hotel Transylvania series, and concluding with a third act that is too strange for a person of any age to enjoy.
It’s without a doubt that there will be a third installment to The Addams Family animated movies because who knows why. What’s most embarrassing is how much of a paycheck this was for the likes of Theron and Isaac, who clearly give minimum effort with maximum returns. The truth remains that they shouldn’t have made a second one after the first one and now my only hope is that these Addams Family iterations will not diminish how great the 1991 version and Addams Family Values have become. You would be better off watching both of those before The Addams Family 2, but that would be true for a lot of other movies. This entire experience is nothing to snap about.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2 IS IN THEATERS AND ON DEMAND FRIDAY OCTOBER 1ST, 2021
1 STAR
Written by: Leo Brady
leo@amovieguy.com
