Most animated movies aimed at kids must also appeal to their parents. After all, if the chaperones aren’t amused, they’ll likely not return for another Cineplex viewing when their children plead to see it again. The great thing about the new computer-animated film based on cartoonist Charles Addams’ THE ADDAMS FAMILY is that it will appeal equally to adult audiences due to its avid homage to the classic 1960s TV series. This adaptation borrows heavily from the show, not to mention parts of the 1991 cult classic ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES as well, yet this take has its own energy and originality as well. With all that going for it, this reboot should easily appeal to a wide audience.
For those who haven’t a clue about the eccentric clan, the film does a sly and swift job of setting up the premise. Gomez Addams (voiced by Oscar Isaac) and his new bride Morticia (voiced by Charlize Theron), have barely finished their nuptials when the local townsfolk chase them out of town for being, well, creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky. Gomez could pass for merely a sinister businessman in pinstripes, but Morticia? Hell, she evokes Dracula’s bride with her deathly pallor and raven-haired looks.
As the two oddball newlyweds drive over hill and dale to escape the mob, Thing, their right-hand man, er hand, tries to direct them to find shelter. Their car ends up hitting a body lying in the middle of the road. Gomez and Morticia delight in hitting something, a joke that may get lost on the kiddies, but it’s an excellent example of this film’s willingness to employ very adult gallows humor.
Their ‘victim’ is Lurch, a hulking 7 ft. tall Frankenstein’s monster-lookalike who they find wrapped in a straight-jacket. He’s escaped from the recently closed asylum up the hill, and before you know it, the Addams’ roll into the massive mansion and make it their home. Lurch quickly becomes their manservant and displays talent on the organ as well. Together with Thing, the two plunk out various tunes, including Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor,” before plunking out Vic Mizzy’s iconic TV theme song. (Da-da-da-dun SNAP SNAP!)
This wonderfully energetic exposition, that surges through the birth and childhood of the Addams’ two children Wednesday (voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz) and Pugsley (voiced by Finn Wolfhard) as well, takes up only about 10 minutes of screen time. From there, the rest of the film bops along at an equally furious pace, tossing off tons of visual gags and throwaway one-liners with such abandon, audiences may need a second viewing just to catch them all. (More rewards for those returning chaperones, you see.)
Grandmama (voiced by Bette Midler) and Uncle Fester (voiced by Nick Krall) move in, and the film starts to tick a lot of boxes from the original Addams’ panel cartoons from the ’40s and ’50s, and even more from the TV take. Some of the homages that become major parts of the story include Gomez’s love of fencing; Morticia’s French utterances engorging her husband’s libido; Uncle Fester playing human target for the kids’ lethal hijinks, and the family house cat – a hungry lion – roaming from room to room.
The voice characterizations are all splendid, with Isaac earning special kudos for playing up his Latino heritage for Gomez. Moretz does a sly riff on Christina Ricci as she gives every line reading an ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES flavor. Allison Janney also does clever work as the voice of Margaux Needler, the antagonist in the story. Needler’s a TV host of a fixer-upper show wanting to renovate the Addams’ haunted house to flip it. Any movie with a plot driver as home equity is a movie truly after an adult audience.
Where the film caters more to kids is in its dual stories centering on Wednesday and Pugsley. Wednesday befriends Needler’s daughter and promptly converts her into an Emo girl. Meanwhile, Pugsley is about to turn 13, driving Gomez to prepare festivities for his son’s passage into manhood. It’s all sweet and affecting, without ever getting too maudlin or preachy. Nor does it get too macabre either, though Pugsley’s penchant for miniature bombs and dynamite may strike some as a bit insensitive for today’s times.
The trajectory of the story is fairly predictable with its message of inclusion, but it’s nice to see the Addams convert the regular folks to their more open way of thinking, rather than condemn them. Screenwriters Matt Lieberman, Pamela Pettler, and Erica Rivinoja never dumb-down a gag or line, and they shrewdly utilize a lot of what’s worked for the franchise in the past. They’re also smart enough to write a lot of big visual set-pieces that simply could not have been done as live-action.
The entire film feels a lot more intellectual than it had to be, but it’s a pleasure to see such adult sophistication ladled throughout. That’s especially evident in the spectacular production design showcasing every nook and cranny of the Addams environment. Co-directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon (veterans of SAUSAGE PARTY and SHREK 2) have done a terrific job of making what should be a crowd-pleaser, especially for the nostalgia set. The film’s end credit sequence is even a shot-for-shot spoof of the TV show’s original black and white opening credit and theme song. That was enough to make me want to see this film again in a snap-snap. AND I don’t even have kids.