The Addams Family (12) | Home Ents Review
Dir. Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, US, 2019 116, mins
Voice Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Finn Wolfhard, Chloë Grace Moretz
Review by Michelle Moore
The Addams Family was first created in the 1930’s and has since developed into a household name. The 1960’s saw a TV series followed by hit movies in the 1990’s and an animated series. This new rendition of the family has things taken back to the original works of creator Charles Addams.
This version of events in the The Addams Family is one that has not yet been explored; how they got to where they are now.
The wedding ceremony of soulmates Morticia (Theron) and Gomez (Isaac) is ruined by the people of their Eastern European town who run them out and they take refuge in New Jersey USA. Along the way they (literally) run into Lurch and make a home at an abandoned haunted asylum where everything around them is alive.
Thirteen years later and this peculiar family of eccentric individuals are missing their heritage but excited as they will be reuniting for Pugsley’s (Wolfhard) traditional family dance, an event where he will perform and be judged by the family to become a man. For a family who find enjoyment in the macabre, things may not go the way that they are hoping for.
When the mist outside their home clears a TV crew who have been redesigning the town below want to have an impact on the Addams home. The family appear completely unaware that the people of the town find them bizarre, especially when their relatives descend upon the town. The result of this dislike to the typical norm creates a slurry of hatred.
As a viewer, you can see that the two sides need to understand that it is ok to be different, both from your own family with Wednesday (Mortez) being a little rebellious and Pugsley being interested in explosives, as well as those around you; not everyone has to live in a cookie cutter town/family. The movie demonstrates that we all need to be accepting of each other despite differences and celebrate each other’s uniqueness rather than frown upon it. The way this is eventually captured is a beautiful take on the subject matter.
There are some comical lines thrown into the movie but said in such a way that no humour is attached to the characters (intentionally). When Wednesday is holding a red balloon and Morticia comments there is usually a murderous clown attached, spiders crawling from beneath Morticia’s dress to make a bridge over the bottomless pit with a comment she is “surfing the web” and the introduction to family members as they arrive is strange.
No Addam’s Family movie would be complete without the memorable theme tune. Thing (a severed hand) teaches the butler Lurch to play it on the organ, while Morticia and Gomez describe the house as creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky. It is this aspect that rounds off another excellent animated rendition of The Addams Family.
With additional extras including music videos, charades with Thing and some behind the scenes footage, this is a movie not to be missed.
The Addams Family is released on BLU-RAY™ and DVD 2ND MARCH 2020 via UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT.
