The Addams Family (2019) Review

The Addams Family is an enduring franchise. It has been around since 1938 and has been adapted into live-action and animated shows and had two hit live-action films in the early 1990s. MGM rebooted the franchise with an animated film in 2019.

After getting married, Gomez and Morticia Addams (Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron) flee their homeland to America to escape persecution. They get to live for 13 years in peace with their two children, Wednesday and Pugsley (Chloë Grace Moretz and Finn Wolfhard). But a town has developed near their home and Gomez tries to befriend the locals, even though the townspeople don’t trust the Addamses.

The Addams Family (2019) was a film filled with subplots that centred around two major storylines: Pugsley’s coming of age ceremony and Margaux Needler (Allison Janney) trying to use the Addamses as a part of her show’s season finale. In the film Gomez tries to befriend the residents of Assimilation despite Morticia’s reservations, Pugsley has doubts he can perform the Sabre Mazurka, and Wednesday wants to see the world beyond her family home. It was all conventional stuff for a family film.

The Addams Family (2019) was upfront with its themes about the importance of individuality and creativity in the face of conformity. The unconventional family lives next to a town called Assimilation and Margaux enforces a policy of uniformity. Anything that threatens Assimilation’s perfection must be purged.

This conflict between individuality and creativity was also prevalent within the Addams Family. Wednesday went through a phase of teenage rebellion by saying she wants to go to school and starts to dress differently. This put Morticia out of joint because Wednesday was betraying her family and their traditions. Wednesday does some of the actions just to annoy her mother, like dressing up in a colourful outfit. Gomez had to train Pugsley on how to perform a traditional Sabre Mazurka because the family from the old country were traditionalists. But Pugsley grew up in America and was more into explosives than swords. Gomez and Morticia had to learn to let their children be individuals and have their own interests.

These themes of individuality and creativity are standard fare for a family film. The LEGO Movie popularised it and many other family films have tried to copy it. The Addams Family (2019) was being earnest when exploring these ideas and the film keeps the core idea that The Addams Family may be weird, but they are a loving family.

The Addams Family (2019) was a kid’s film so it had to tone down some of the more macabre aspects of the property. Wednesday’s sadistic edge disappeared in this film and a subplot where it looked like she was going to get revenge against a bully never went anywhere. Some of the gags were clearly designed for the children like the various songs Lurch plays on the organ and the use of a rap song in the film. There were some jokes for the adults, like Morticia using her parents’ ashes as make-up and Thing’s foot fetish, but these jokes should go over the heads of children.

The Addams Family (2019) had a budget of $24 million which is low for an animated film. Yet there was a fluidity and energy to the animation that made the film look more expensive than it really was. The standout sequence was when Pugsley had to perform the Sabre Mazurka and his extended family showed off their sword skills.

The Addams Family purists will hate this film because it softens the material. But as a family film, it has its heart in the right place because of its theme. Despite the gothic exterior, The Addams Family (2019) was a sweet film.