The Addams Family (2019)
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The Addams Family Movie Review
The Addams Family is a 2019 animated comedy film directed by Conrad Vernon and starring Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron. It’s such a frustratingly mediocre output.
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“Strange, there’s usually a murderous clown
attached to the other end of these…“
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Illumination first got their hand on this IP, and personally I think even they could have done a better job than what MGM did here. This is frankly embarrassingly mediocre, especially for such an important, wonderful material. Everything is handled with kid gloves, which means that the life and dark edge are totally sucked out of this endeavor.
The plot is also very weak. It had some potential and admittedly some scenes are pretty good, but for the most part it resorted to standard family fare with a particularly annoying emphasis on tiresome message about accepting differences, and how everyone is normal, but just different and authentic. That was shoehorn in such an aggressive, dull manner.
As for the characters, they also lost their edge, I would have to say. But I have nothing to say against the actors themselves. They all did a very good job and the ensemble is excellent. I would have to commend Oscar Isaac most as he really fits the main role and delivered a very good voice performance.
But Gomez and Morticia unfortunately do not share the same crazy relationship that they did before. The remnants of it are there, but otherwise this is again mild stuff. The same goes for the kids, and the other characters, the new additions aren’t all that great. Admittedly, Allison Janney is very good as Margaux, but the character needed more screen time to shine.
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The lack of true villains hurt this Addams Family. The same should be said for the dialogue which is much less provocative and thus blunted in impact. The score is great, though, and the animation’s excellent. Yes, I would prefer stop-motion instead of CGI, but they did right by the character designs and the overall film looks very faithful and polished, though the backgrounds left a lot to be desired. Overall, it’s a messy, boring and shallow film that is weaker than the 1991 original, and especially inferior to that film’s sequel.
The 2019 Addams Family admittedly looks strong as the character designs are on-point. The score is also good and the voice acting’s terrific. But the treatment of these iconic edgy characters and material with kid gloves really made the movie boring, tiresome and lifeless. It’s such a frustratingly mediocre reboot.
