addams family movie review 2021

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This sequel makes up for some of the problems with the 2019 " Addams Family " animated family film, which suffered from an uneven tone and a meandering storyline. The characters and setting originated in the original Charles Addams one-panel cartoons in the New Yorke r , a nameless family with an amusingly gruesome way of life, then a 1960s sit-com with the memorable Vic Mizzy theme song, followed by two waspishly witty live-action films. ("Don't torture yourself," Morticia Addams soothes her husband, Gomez. "That's my job.") Other versions included a television cartoon show and a Broadway musical. The 2019 film had a bland "the real monsters are the ordinary conformist people" storyline that failed to take advantage of the main appeal of the Addams family, the combination of their ghoulish enjoyment of the macabre and their genuine affection and support for each other. The new film has a better understanding of how to make the most of what has made these characters so enduringly popular, including the Vic Mizzy song.

STEM superstar Wednesday Addams ( Chloë Grace Moretz ) has something special for the school's science fair. In a set-up reminiscent of the spooky lab in "Frankenstein," she has invented a procedure for transferring the attributes of one creature to another. As a demonstration, she implants some of the brain power of her Rubik's Cube-solving pet octopus to her cheerful but not very bright, raspy-voiced Uncle Fester ( Nick Kroll ). She is disappointed when they give everyone a participation trophy instead of picking someone to be the best. But the sponsor of the science fair, a tech whiz named Cyrus Strange ( Bill Hader ) appears via hologram to invite Wednesday to work with him to perfect her invention. She turns him down.

Gomez ( Oscar Isaac ) is worried that Wednesday is not as close to him or as appreciative of his love for her as he wants her to be, and so he decides to take the family on a cross-country vacation in their version of an RV, complete with goth decor and a fireplace. His plan is to visit the country's many "dark secrets." He only means Halloween-style darkness like the Salem witch trials, Sleepy Hollow, and Death Valley. 

The family is off to see the sights and, Gomez hopes, spend some quality time together. But they are pursued by a lawyer ( Wallace Shawn ) who says Wednesday was switched at birth and is the biological daughter of his undisclosed client. Wednesday is gruesome even by Addams standards, and her increased frustration with her family makes the idea of her belonging somewhere else have some appeal. The scariest thing about Gomez is his tendency to hugs and dad jokes, while Wednesday says she has been social distancing since birth and her reaction to Salem burning girls at the stake for being witches is #squadgoals. 

The road trip gives the movie visual sparkle, with stops at some iconic locations and a visit to the home of Cyrus Strange, a Frank Lloyd Wright-style gleaming ultra-modern structure with sharp horizontal lines that shrewdly contrasts to the dark, ornamental, Victorian gothic of the Addams mansion. There are fascinating and witty details every scene that will reward repeated viewings, thanks to art direction from Chris Souza and Kathleen Shugrue and production design from Patricia Atchison. The needle-drop songs on the score bring energy and some commentary on what is happening as well, with a very funny use of the classic, "I Will Survive." Snoop Dogg , as Cousin It (just one "T" in the credits of the film, though the original series and many crossword puzzles give him two), gets a chance to spit some doggy-style rhymes in a rousing concert performance.

An intrusive product placement billboard will trigger the irritation viewers may have with the odd cross-promotion in television commercials on behalf of both this movie and an insurance company. Of more concern, parents may get some tough questions due to the paternity issues raised by the film, including DNA tests. The issues of who a child "belongs" to and what biology has to do with identity will be a concern for some families. But it is presented in a spirit of love and acceptance, and that should be reassuring. So is the notion that the Addams families are finally getting a chance to show what they do best: they make the scary silly and make sure all family members know how much they are loved. 

Now playing in theaters and available on demand.

Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

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Film Credits

The Addams Family 2 (2021)

Rated PG for macabre and rude humor, violence and language.

Oscar Isaac as Gomez Addams (voice)

Charlize Theron as Morticia Addams (voice)

Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams (voice)

Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester (voice)

Javon 'Wanna' Walton as Pugsley Addams

Bette Midler as Grandma (voice)

Wallace Shawn as (voice)

Snoop Dogg as IT (voice)

Bill Hader as (voice)

Elsie Fisher as Parker Needler (voice)

Allison Janney as Margaux Needler (voice)

• Conrad Vernon
• Greg Tiernan

Writer (based on characters created by)

• Charles Addams

Writer (story)

• Benji Samit
• Dan Hernandez
• Michael Paxton
• Susanna Fogel
• Mychael Danna

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‘The Addams Family 2’ Review: Creepier and Kookier Than the First

Wednesday the goth tween takes center stage in a sequel with a riper sense of macabre loopiness.

By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman

Chief Film Critic

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The devil is in the details — or, in “ The Addams Family 2 ,” a digitally animated sequel aimed at ages six and over, in the demented ghoulish sparkle of jokes that are just macabre and kiddie witty enough to tickle you. Take, for instance, Uncle Fester, voiced by Nick Kroll with an extreme goofy lisp, sizing up the creaky brown wood camper in which the Addams family are about to take a three-week cross-country trek and saying, “Oh, it’s a hybrid — half car, half eyesore!” Or the way that Morticia, voiced by Charlize Theron in the most musical of aristocratic purrs, doesn’t just walk but glides around in her cadaverous skin-tight dress that drapes over the floor in trails that look like black silk octopus legs. Or Gomez ( Oscar Isaac ), in his Igor-as-head-waiter hodgepodge of an Old World accent, saying, “Tell that Billie Eilish she’s a little too sunny for my taste.” Or the way that Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz), that paragon of proto goth disaffection, says she’s been social distancing since birth. Or Cyrus Strange (Bill Hader), the mad scientist who’s trying to make Wednesday his daughter, snapping at the regal Morticia, “Oh, pipe down, Elvira!”

Two years ago, the first film in this series, “The Addams Family” (2019), was, of course, the third big-screen “Addams Family” feature, after the two live-action ones that came out in the early ’90s. But it felt like it could have been the 13th. The co-directors, Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, did a splendid job visually, returning the characters to the loopy stylized glory of the original Charles Addams cartoons. But the jokes were too safe and cozy (the movie was far less outrageous than the “Hotel Transylvania” films), and the story was thin even for a knowing piece of cobweb camp.

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It’s in the nature of most animated sequels to struggle to recapture the full charm of the original hit. But in the case of “The Addams Family 2,” Tiernan and Vernon have used the sequel as an opportunity for an upgrade. The script is by an entirely new team (Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, and Susanna Fogel), and in some ineffable bats-in-the-belfry way the jokes now land with a more inspired and spontaneous creepy kookiness. At a Little Miss Jalapeño Pepper contest in Texas, Wednesday, looking even more sinister under a mountain of blonde big hair, dumps red paint all over the other contestants as if this were the prom in “Carrie.”

It helps that Wednesday, the spiritual seed for characters from Lydia in “Beetlejuice” to Coraline, gets to be the center of gravity. In form, “The Addams Family 2” is a road-trip movie, with the Addamses traveling in their camper van (which inside somehow looks about as big as their mansion) to visit the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and other spots that speak to their penchant for arid lifeless spaces.

Emotionally, though, it’s all about the mid-tween crisis of Wednesday. She’s robbed of the chance to win the school science fair — even though, with a chemical beaker in hand, she’s like Dr. Frankenstein crossed with Pippi Longstocking. Her father thinks she doesn’t need him anymore. And a pesky attorney, who looks just like Wallace Shawn (and is voiced by him), shows up to inform Gomez and Morticia that their beloved little ghoul isn’t actually their daughter; she was switched at birth. There’s a flashback to Fester making a visit to her in the hospital nursery, where he hilariously juggles the infants on hand (and is too Fester-brained to bother putting them back correctly), at which point we seriously wonder: Could Wednesday be the daughter of Cyrus, who covets the pitiless detached genius of her psycho scientific mind?

The secret of the Addams family, of course, is that they’re actually a clan of innocents. They mean well — they’re a devoted middle-class extended family — and, if anything, the rest of the world seems jaded by comparison. In “The Addams Family 2,” there’s a funny sequence in which Pugsley (Javon “Wanna” Walton), controlled by Wednesday with a rag-doll voodoo doll, wins over some girl tourists with his dance moves before pitching himself over the side of Niagara Falls. (He’s also a pyromaniac who literally blows up the Grand Canyon.) And when Wednesday gets “adopted” by Cyrus, whose wife is literally a bird (the stranger the movie gets the better — and that’s strange), our heroine’s ambivalence about whether or not she wants to leave her parents makes for a genuine bittersweet excavation of the Addams attitude. Wednesday is a pure misanthrope (greeting some other kids her age, she says, “Excuse me, vacuous lemmings”), but beneath that punk superiority Chloë Grace Moretz laces her with just the right hint of freakish inner normalcy.

I should mention that Lurch, at a biker bar, sits down at the piano and sings “I Will Survive.” And that Snoop Dogg’s ingenious vocal performance as Cousin It will have you thinking spinoff. After the 2019 “Addams Family,” I had no real desire to sit through another one of these. After “The Addams Family 2,” however, I now hope that there’s an “Addams Family 3.” But only if the filmmakers keep doing what they do here: in their PG way, upping the ante on the cuddly bed-bug insanity of it all. Many of the movie’s jokes are merely benign. But the best ones really are a scream.

Reviewed at Park Ave. Screening Room, Aug. 29, 2021. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 93 MIN.

• Production: A United Artists, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release, in association with BRON Creative, of a Jackal Group/Glickmania production. Producers: Gail Berman, Conrad Vernon, Danielle Serling, Alison O’Brien. Executive producers: Kevin Miserocchi, Jonathan Glickman, Cassidy Lange, Andrew Mittman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Cloth.
• Crew: Directors: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon. Screenplay: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, Susanna Fogel. Music: Michael Danna, Jeff Danna.
• With: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Bill Hader, Nick Kroll, Javon “Wanna” Walton, Wallace Shawn, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler.

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Review: ‘The Addams Family 2’ goes on a road trip but can’t follow the first movie’s clear direction

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The 2019 animated feature “The Addams Family” was a cute refresh of the classic Addams Family characters for a new, younger audience. Clocking in at 83 years young (Charles Addams’ cartoons debuted in the New Yorker magazine in 1938), it’s amazing that the Addamses have the staying power that they do. The new films, shepherded by directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, stay true to the Charles Addams aesthetic in design and sensibility. The filmmakers have assembled a talented voice cast to embody this macabre and tight-knit family and deliver the hallmark darkly punny dialogue.

For the record:

9:05 a.m. Oct. 1, 2021 An earlier version of this review incorrectly stated that “The Addams Family 2” had five screenwriters. The film has four credited writers: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen and Susanna Fogel.

The first film struck at the heart of what makes the Addams family unique: The way they embrace being different is actually more inclusive and loving than whatever usually passes for “normal.” That sentiment is repeated in the sequel, “The Addams Family 2,” but the whole endeavor, unfortunately, delivers diminishing returns.

Lacking narrative rigor, “The Addams Family 2” is merely a series of loose vignettes knit together by a family road trip format. Patriarch Gomez (Oscar Isaac) is inspired to take the whole crew on a vacation to encourage family bonding after Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz) starts to feel alienated from the rest of the Addamses, embarrassed by their overbearing affections at her school science fair. The suggestion, perpetrated by a persistent lawyer (Wallace Shawn) in hot pursuit, that Wednesday may have been switched at birth, has her questioning everything. Soon it comes to light that this lawyer has been hired by mysterious mogul Cyrus Strange (Bill Hader), but his conviction that Wednesday is his true progeny could be hiding a far more nefarious agenda.

While the family hits Niagara Falls, Sleepy Hollow, Miami Beach, the Alamo and the Grand Canyon, it’s a chance for Wednesday to consider what it means to be an Addams. But the plot structure just feels like the opportunity for a series of slapdash sketches with references to other films like “Carrie,” “Top Gun” and “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” plus, of course, lots of random moments and montages set to pop tunes. As Wednesday uses a voodoo doll to marionette poor Pugsley (Javon Walton) around to House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” the opening bars of the song will send any elderly millennial or Gen-Xer right back to a sticky beer-soaked dive bar, and that nostalgia bait seems the only reason for that sequence to exist.

“The Addams Family 2” feels as if it’s lost the spark of the first one. The jokes that felt fresh in the first film are stale here, with the story’s twists glaringly predictable. The film boasts four different screenwriters and one can’t help but wonder if this might be a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. The film could be amusing for a very young set, but alas, it’s not even spooky enough to truly delight the little horror hound in your life.

Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic.

‘The Addams Family 2’

Rated: PG, for macabre and rude humor, violence and language Running time: 1 hour, 33 minutes Playing: Starts Oct. 1 in general release; also available on premium VOD

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‘The Addams Family 2’ Review: Wednesday Goes West

America’s creepiest family takes a road trip in this animated sequel, though their antics are far more kooky than spooky.

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By Lena Wilson

In 2019, the Addams family returned to the big screen for the first time since the 1990s, this time in animated form. The macabre clan, directly styled after Charles Addams’s original New Yorker cartoon characters and voiced by a star-studded cast, railed against normalcy and blew up a lot of stuff. Now, in a new sequel, they’re taking that show on the road. Like it’s predecessor, “The Addams Family 2” is more kooky than spooky, offering much more to young children than it may to the adults accompanying them.

This newest iteration opens at a science fair; Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz) has figured out how to implant her pet octopus’s intelligence into her dopey Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll). Though she captures the attention of the wealthy genius Cyrus Strange (Bill Hader), she merely earns a participation award, and her resulting melancholy makes her withdraw further from her parents.

In an attempt to bond with their teenagers, Gomez (Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron) take the family on a road trip to Death Valley, but their cross-country antics are waylaid when a pushy stranger (Wallace Shawn) insists Wednesday may have been switched at birth.

The filmmakers (the “Addams Family” and “Sausage Party” directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon) are smart to focus on Wednesday for most of this plot. She is the wittiest character, and it’s difficult to imagine an actor better suited to voice her than Moretz. But where it could lean into the typically bone-dry Addams family humor, this film more often relies on poop jokes, explosions and the musical talents of Snoop Dogg. It’s sure to entertain little ones, but parents may find themselves itching for something more impish.

The Addams Family 2 Rated PG. Running time: 1 hour 33 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Apple TV , Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.

Lena Wilson is a project manager at The New York Times and a freelance writer covering film, TV, technology and lesbian culture. More about Lena Wilson

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• DVD & Streaming

The Addams Family 2

• Animation , Comedy , Kids , Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Content Caution

In Theaters

• October 1, 2021
• Voices of Oscar Isaac as Gomez Addams; Charlize Theron as Morticia Addams; Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams; Nick Kroll as Uncle Fester; Javon 'Wanna' Walton as Pugsley Addams; Snoop Dogg as It; Bette Midler as Grandma; Bill Hader as Cyrus; Wallace Shawn as a mysterious agent

Home Release Date

• November 23, 2021
• Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon

Distributor

Movie review.

Wednesday Addams has always felt … different.

Granted, the entire Addams family is, shall we say, unconventional . Their butler is a hulking Walking Dead extra. Their chauffer is a disembodied hand. Their household pet is a lion, their houseplant is a monstrous Venus Flytrap named Chuckles. When they serve finger food at parties, it’s likely actual fingers.

Wednesday appreciates all that, of course. Nothing says home like eyeball stew, a family game of Death and some quiet time with a good book—perhaps Poisoning for Fun and Profit . But even at home, Wednesday sometimes doesn’t feel at home. Her father, Gomez, is entirely too loving. Her brother, Pugsley, is entirely too gullible. And could someone as bright as Wednesday be truly related to Uncle Fester? Someone whose idea of self-improvement is changing the sheets a month early?

Gomez and wife Morticia can feel Wednesday growing more distant. And while Morticia encourages patience, patience has never been Gomez’s strong suit. Clearly what Wednesday needs is more forced family time. Lots of forced family time. That’s right: It’s time for an Addams family road trip. They’ll begin in Salem (naturally) and end in Death Valley (naturally) and see every creepy sight in America along the way.

But The Addamses will have company on the road. A scientist named Rupert Strange has sent a couple of his lackeys to fetch Wednesday to him. He says that there was a mixup at the hospital, and the little girl is actually his little girl—not an Addams at all. And, Strange says, it’s high time that Wednesday come home.

The Addams clan won’t give up Wednesday willingly. But if the headstrong daughter decides to leave on her own, can they stop her? After all, little girls who build guillotines in their spare time are not to be trifled with.

Positive Elements

We all know that members of the Addams family are creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky. But they are also, in their own way, quite loving. Gomez showers affection on Wednesday (much to the girl’s annoyance). Uncle Fester tries to tutor Pugsley on the art of dating (much to the boy’s sorrow). The butler, Lurch (who’s almost like family), is as loyal as they come. Addams family members risk a lot for each other, including their very lives.

That off-kilter love combines with the movie’s plot to offer a surprisingly nice message about adoption. While the real identity of Wednesday’s birth parents may be a bit up in the air for much of The Addams Family 2 , the film makes no secret about who her real family is. “You’re an Addams, just as Wednesday is,” Morticia tells a family member. “Whether it’s in her blood or not.”

The fact that that family is so unusual offers fruitful soil for another good message: It’s OK to be different.

Cousin It—an Addams covered in hair—tells Wednesday that he used to be ashamed of how he looked, to the point that he shaved off all his hair as a teenager. But eventually, Cousin It decided to embrace who he was, hair and all. And now, he’s unquestionably the hippest character in the movie. (Voiced by Snoop Dogg, he even spits out a rap.)

Spiritual Elements

We hear plenty of references to ghosts and ghouls, naturally. A quartet of singing heads livens up a party back at the Addams family mansion.

Wednesday owns and uses a voodoo doll of Pugsley. (The result is a lengthy slapstick scene.) Gomez owns and uses a sword he calls Deuteronomy. There’s a passing reference to the “witching hour.”

Sexual Content

Gomez and Morticia are as in love with each other as ever. We see them embrace often and mutter sweet (and ever-so-vaguely suggestive) nothings to each other.

After a small explosion, Gomez shouts, “You inflame me! I feel liquid magma lapping at my body!”

“You’re on fire, dear,” Morticia tells him—meaning the phrase quite literally.

Pugsley is beginning to feel an attraction to girls, and he makes some ill-advised advances. Uncle Fester (whom we sometimes see in nothing but a pair of boxers) does his best to tutor Pugsley in the ways of love. “I’ve been on three first dates!” he says. “I mean, who else has that kind of experience?!” He also offers Pugsley his self-published book, The Fester Method: How to Woo and Other Tips on Love . Pugsley tries to use one of Fester’s favorite wooing lines, which does not go well: “I’ve skinned my knee … falling for you!”

We see some animated people walk around on a beach in swimsuits, including a few bikini-clad women.

For an instant on screen, we see two women dancing with each other in a biker bar.

Violent Content

The Addamses and violence go together like two halves of a pair of scissors. But most of it, naturally, is played for laughs.

Wednesday manipulates Pugsley via a voodoo doll, leading to a great deal of slapstick humor (and quite a bit of pain on Pugsley’s part). People plunge over Niagara Falls (an attraction Gomez gleefully notes has been the doom of many), though it seems everyone survives. Two monsters battle each other, with one apparently dying and the other nearly doing so.

Wednesday habitually tries to kill Pugsley, her brother. Uncle Fester hurls knives at Gomez as he rotates on a wheel. People on a beach are electrically shocked (revealing the skeletons underneath the skin). Child beauty contestants have red paint dumped on them—a nod to the R-rated horror movie Carrie . (We see plenty of other references to violent horror and slasher movies, too.) Uncle Fester is beaten up by his own tentacles. (In the context of the movie, that makes sense.) A science-fair becomes a scene of chaos when Pugsley messes with someone’s volcano exhibit. He also blows up much of the Grand Canyon and tries, unsuccessfully, to blow up a glass cylinder.

Wednesday pulls lots of Gomez’s hair (including nose hair) to test his DNA. She makes a reference to the cannibalistic Donner Party. Someone loses what looks to be a set of false teeth during a game of billiards. Wednesday announces she feels something akin to butterflies in her stomach. “Perhaps my digestive acids will kill them,” she adds. Someone makes a guillotine out of sand. While the rest of her family is away, Grandmama Addams throws a massive party. “There were a few injuries,” she admits. “But the EMT is here, and they’re having a wonderful time.”

Someone falls down a staircase. Another character is trapped beneath a giant rock (but apparently otherwise unharmed).

Crude or Profane Language

We hear one use of the letters OMG. When Uncle Fester hands someone a finger, the recipient alludes to an obscene gesture that uses the same sort of digit.

Uncle Fester is holding what seem to be juggling balls when he starts to fall down some stairs. He exclaims, “My balls! My head” as he tumbles.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Gomez drinks oddly colored cocktails from martini glasses. Wednesday mixes chemicals as part of a science experiment, which takes on the tang of a bartender mixing a drink. Gomez and Morticia are served beverages in coconut shells. Beer is poured and served in a biker bar.

Other Negative Elements

The Addams Family 2’ s biggest content concern probably is its reliance on bathroom humor. We see and hear lots of it here, from people being flung into huge piles of poop to big piles of poop (in bags) being flung and hitting people. After a bevy of explosions, a man comes to rest, still sitting on a toilet. (Nothing critical is seen, but it’s still mildly suggestive.) A lion digs a hole in a public beach and does his business there. And so on.

When the Addames disguise themselves as cowboys, Pugsley gripes that he feels like “Uncle Sam threw up all over me.” As Uncle Fester slowly turns into an octopus, he has an inking episode or two that the movie suggests is similar to urinating (or worse) in one’s pants. There’s a joke about someone’s bad breath. When Wednesday squeezes a voodoo doll, Pugsley releases gas.

In an era where animated movies have become richer and deeper, The Addams Family animated films stand out by virtue of their ordinariness.

That’s pretty ironic, considering the wildly colorful habits of the Addamses themselves. But while Disney and Pixar and Sony and DreamWorks often push multilayered stories into their animated fare and can sometimes tease a few tears out of adult viewers, MGM’s franchise is still very much a cartoon . The makers aren’t trying to raise the animated bar. Indeed, some of the humor aims quite a bit lower.

Bathroom jokes in The Addams Family 2 are so numerous you’d think the whole movie was teepeed. Slapstick gags and wordplay are intrinsically part of the Addams schtick, but that keeps the film trapped in its own conceit. In a year that’s already seen films like Raya and the Last Dragon, Vivo, Luca and The Mitchells vs. The Machines, The Addams Family 2 feels expendable.

But while The Addams Family 2 might not be a great movie, it does offer us a couple of great messages: Families, for all their frustrations, are pretty great. And you don’t need to be born into a great family to be in a great family.

Nothing creepy or kooky about that.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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The Addams Family 2 (2021) Review

A SHALLOW ANIMATED SEQUEL

In 2019, MGM Studios released the animated film The Addams Family , a CGI cartoon film that was based on the iconic “creepy and kooky” macabre family from the classic TV show. Directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tierman, the film, which starred the voice talents Charlize Theron, Oscar Isaac, Chloe Grace Moretz, and Finn Wolfhard, tells the story of the Addams family, who move into an abandoned, derelict asylum in New Jersey, and make into their home; struggling to maintain their strange and bizarre lifestyle when Wednesday ventures into the world outside and invites change into the Addams’s life. The Addams Family faced mixed reviews, with some moviegoers and critics criticized the feature’s subpar animation and narrative elements, but praise the film for its character design and voiceover performances. The movie went on to have a modest box office run; gaining over $203 million worldwide against its $23 million production budget. Now, roughly two years after the release of the 2019 animated film, MGM Studios and directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tierman return to this iconic spooky family for the follow-up sequel…..adequately called The Addams Family 2 . Does this next installment bring to scares and humor to this peculiar family or is it just an animated farce that doesn’t go anywhere?

Wednesday Addams (Chloe Grace Moretz) has always felt out of place within her family. Brilliant within her own right and a gifted scientific genius, the young girl feels like she doesn’t belong, watching her brother, Pugsley (Javon Walton) become more of a physical force of nature with his pyro-explosions and adolescent romance, while her parents, Gomez (Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron), remain dedicated to their love, especially with anything grotesque and macabre. While experimenting with a DNA-altering serum at a local science fair, Wednesday catches the attention of rich scientist engineer, Cyrus Strange. Sensing his daughter is pulling away from the rest of the Addams clan, Gomez plans a road trip for the family, packing up a camper and setting out to see the United States. During the cross-country adventure, the household is tailed by Strange’s lawyer, Mr. Mustela (Wallace Shawn), who wants to collect Wednesday and bring her to the science icon, informing the girl who’s felt at home with her family that Cyrus Strange is her real father. As the misadventure of the Addams continues on their trip, Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) begins to feel strange; feeling the side-effects of Wednesday’s DNA-altering serum.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

As I’ve stated before, I’ve always been a big fan of animated movies, especially ones that can transcend the cartoon atmospheric nature and be liked by both kids and adults alike. I’m not saying to be mature or have innuendo jokes and gags for adult audiences out there, but the movie needs to have that “spark” of animation delight; balancing vibrant color imagery, solid, talented voice casting, and storytelling narration. While juggernaut studios like Disney and Pixar share lead the charge in those top-tier categories, other animated movies still have a chance to shine in other own respective way. Case in point…2019’s Addams Family . I personally liked the movie. Yes, I loved how the movie portrayed the iconic “spooky” family for a new generation, keeping up the appearance of the strange and macabre ways. I did have a problem with the actual animation of the feature, which (compared to other animated studios releases) felt dated, but the character designs were good, and the voice talents were solid. I personally loved Moretz and Theron in their respective roles of Wednesday and Morticia Addams. Additionally, given its paltry production budget, it wasn’t a big or financial risk in creating such an animated film endeavor and the end result for the project turned a modest profit for the studio. In the end, I look at 2019’s The Addams Family was what it is…..an updated animated tale that gets its point across and has its fair share of humorous bits amongst its solid voice talents from these iconic character.

This brings me back to talking about The Addams Family 2 , a 2021 animated film and the sequel to the 2019 feature. As mentioned in my review for 2019 film, I liked the movie and would love to see a sequel materialize as I believed that there was enough substance and material for a potential continuation / franchise to be built upon. Heck, The Addams Family has seeing various attempts throughout the years in both live-action televisions and cartoon episodic adventures, so…. that potential is there. Thus, when it was announced (sometime after the theatrical release of the 2019 animated film) that a sequel was being planned, I was looking forward to seeing it, with a release date tentative set for Fall of 2021. After that, I really didn’t hear much about the project for quite some time…. until a few months back, when the sequel movie first showcased its marketing campaign within its various formats, including the film’s movie trailers. From them alone, the sequel looked a bit “spotty” as the whole “road trip” angle didn’t feel like it was going to fit the Addams Family narrative. Still, I was a bit optimistic about this upcoming project and I did like that most of the original voice talents were returning. Thus, I decided to check out the movie during its opening weekend in October of 2021. I did delay doing my review for this film as I got a little bit pre-occupied by other more prominent features out there (i.e., No Time to Die , The Last Duel , Dune , etc.). So, with those films out of the way, I now finally have time to share my thoughts on The Addams Family 2 . And what did I think of it? Well, it was okay, but I was more on the disappointed side of things. While some bits work, The Addams Family 2 ends up being a shallow and aimless animated sequel endeavor that doesn’t go anywhere. There’s a couple of redeeming qualities, but not much.

The Addams Family 2 is directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tierman, the two co-directors pairing that helmed the first Addams Family movie back in 2019, with their credits consisting of various roles, while the first directorial collaboration was the adult oriented Sausage Party in 2016. Thus, giving their familiarity with working with each other as well as the Addams Family property, it seems like a logical choice for both Vernon and Tierman to helm this sequel. Because of this the duo directors seem to jump right into the movie (head first), with the movie relatively having the same “look and feel” to the 2019 animated feature. Thus, there is a good continuity feeling throughout the movie; bridging The Addams Family 2 with its predecessor counterpart and slightly tweaking this new movie between the two in a few areas. As to be expected, Vernon and Tierman have fun with this sequel; continuing to utilize the classic Addams Family tropes for the sequel, but also creating several deeper morals to be had in the feature. The idea of finding oneself and the involvement of family are rooted in The Addams Family 2 and, while it might get a big bogged down within its goofy angst and several gag jokes, it is a fundamental message to learn, which can be extrapolated for all viewers out there….regardless of young or old. While the film’s narrative is a bit on the wonky side (more on that below), the movie does have a very lean runtime, with the feature clocking in at around 93 minutes (one hour and thirty-three minutes). Thus, despite what one person might think of this movie (good or bad), The Addams Family 2 does have breezy runtime.

Presentation-wise, I think that The Addams Family 2 did improve upon its predecessor….in terms of animation style and textures. One of the biggest criticism that I had with the 2019 Addams Family film was the fact that the animation for the feature looked dated, especially compared to other animated studio releases out there. Thankfully, this sequel’s animation is a lot better than what previously rendered in the first Addams Family feature. Colors are still vibrant and bright, but the actually detail in the various textures have a sort of improved “quality of life”. I still love the various character designs for each and every single character in the movie, which (like the movie itself) are rendered / projected in a much better way that the previous film; finding each character to have their own distinct look. Like before, the character designs for the film aren’t hyper really with looks of proportioned bodies and heads, but I think that this works in the movie’s visual appealing than others, with The Addams Family 2 showcasing more various side characters (different facial looks and body types) in the film, which gives a unique swagger and differentiate itself from other animated movies out there. Thus, I do have to thank all the animators on the project as well as Kathleen Shugrue and Chris Souza (art direction) for their efforts in making the film’s visual art style coming alive whenever on-screen. Again, it’s not something to be “wowed” over, especially compared to a Disney or Pixar animated feature film, but (as mentioned) it’s a step in the right direction and an improvement upon the first Addams Family . Lastly, the film’s score, which was composed by Jeff and Mychael Danna, is solid, with a musical composition that befits a animated film like this, with a mixture of a few songs selections scattered throughout the movie…for extra flavor.

Unfortunately, The Addams Family 2 isn’t quite the sequel that was intended to be, with the film suffering from several glaring criticism that hold the feature back. Perhaps the most problematic one of the entire bunch is the simple fact that the movie isn’t that good. How so? Well, despite its attempts, the film’s narrative isn’t that strong and struggles to find a proper balance of story, humor, and heart. Yes, all three of those instrumental beats are present in the feature, but they never harmonizes equally with each other; resulting in an animated sequel that doesn’t go anywhere and ends up being redundant and generic to the touch. Perhaps one reason for this lies in the film’s script, which was penned by Dan Hermandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, and Susanna Fogel. The main bulk / plot of the movie is indeed a road trip angle, seeing the Addams family interact with various locations and points of interest across the USA. It’s definitely a proven narrative (as mentioned above), but there just something that isn’t quite right about that particular narrative found within an Addams Family movie. Thus, this sort of “fish out of water” narrative / road trip for this sequel just seems wonky right from the get-go and never really finds a proper rhythm within its narrative context. It all just seems quite bland and charmless; forgoing something unique and different (of which the movie’s story could’ve been) and instead chooses a few cheap laughs and sight-gags. Even the movie’s “switched at birth” angle seems tiresome and has been done many times before, with the scenario playing out in The Addams Family 2 in a very lackadaisical fashion. Again, wasting an opportunity and potential for some cheap digs and laughs that really don’t amount to much.

In conjunction with that idea, the story of The Addams Family 2 doesn’t really feel like something that an Addams Family motif. What do I mean? Well, the whole road trip and “switched at birth” doesn’t really feel like an Addams Family narrative cog and ultimately feels like it’s an idea from a scrapped animated film that was wedged into the Addams Family sequel. Plus, have the fun of the Addams Family (in all variations) is their spooky domicile dwelling. Seeing the ghastly family running around their house and workings throughout their daily life was always fun and unique, especially like in the first animated film, which made the house itself almost like a character. Thus, taking that piece out of the equation for The Addams Family 2 seems very awkward and looses part of the charm….at least in my opinion. There is a mobile home that the family travels around the US on their road trip, but it doesn’t have the same charm as the “creepy” house where the Addams make their residence at. Even the film’s ending feels so unnatural, with the climatic part of the third act tries to go “big” with giant monster and becomes so mundane and goofy that it doesn’t jive well with the rest of the movie. Heck, the whole third act of The Addams Family 2 seems shoehorned in that (again) feels like it was a scrapped idea from another movie and tried to fit into the Addams Family property.

The humor is a bit of “hit or miss”, but I did chuckle a few times here and there throughout the movie. Of course, The Addams Family (regardless of live-action or animated) have always been known for the pun references in how they perceive “normal” within their macabre lifestyle, so I kind of expected that. That being said, the jokes and gags are a bit “lower based” style of humor and never quite stick their landing, which is disappointing. So, who is to blame? Well, of course, the script for the film part of the reason, with what’s presented seems trivial and underdeveloped, which is clear from the start and the film’s narrative struggling to find a proper balance of character and story. However, another portion of that is from Vernon and Tierman’s direction for the feature; rendering the sequel in a middling endeavor and bringing a sense of shallow attempts for the proceedings. The intent for creating something special and unique for the film is there, but how it is presented and executed in the final presentation is rather bland and formulaic….as if The Addams Family 2 is running on autopilot.

The cast in The Addams Family 2 is perhaps one of the best and redeeming qualities that this sequel has to offer, especially since most of the voice talents from the first film return to reprise their character roles. The downside, however, is that some of the characters’ journeys / development in the movie are a bit redundant or only surface level. Perhaps the only character that actually evolves and grows in the narrative is in the character of Wednesday, who is once again played by actress Chloe Grace Moretz. Known for her roles in Kick-Ass , If I Stay , and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising , Moretz, much like the previous film, gets to do much of the heavy lifting in the feature, with Wednesday Addams is at the center of the narrative. It definitely works and Moretz certainly handles herself well; playing up the highly keen, intellect of the character in the monotone voice, which does create some humorous bits whenever she talks. That being said, while I like Moretz as Wednesday, her character’s journey goes back to the criticism of this sequel; finding her narrative arc to be a bit bland and conventional within her family’s plight. Again, the scenario has been done before and just comes across as tiresome. Thus, Wednesday, just comes across as derivate and formulaic, despite Moretz giving what she can for her character respectfully.

The same can be partly said about the other main members of the Addams Family in this sequel, with the characters of Gomez and Morticia being more sidelined in the feature than in the previous one, despite their importance as the patriarch and matriarch of the Addams family. Of course, actor Oscar Isaac ( Dune and Ex Machina ) and actress Charlize Theron ( Mad Max: Fury Road and Snow White and the Huntsman ) are best voice talents in their respective characters and are certainly dead on with their persona of Gomez and Morticia Addams. That being said, their characters are, more or less, pushed aside and feel a bit more half-baked, which is disappointing because I thought that the first Addams Family movie did a great job in introducing an incorporating both Gomez and Morticia into the movie (i.e., Gomez with Pugsley’s ceremony and Morticia’s dealing with Wednesday’s discovery of the human world). In The Addams Family 2 , however, their characters are underutilized. Of course, they are present in the movie, but not as well-rounded as they could’ve been, which is disheartening to say the least. Even worse is the character of Pugsley in The Addams Family 2 , who is reduced to more of physical gag character in the sequel than anything else. He has a sight character arc of him trying to find love, but, much like the film itself, comes off as half-baked. Interestingly, the character of Pugsley is the only replaced voice actor of the returning cast, with actor Finn Wolfhard, who played the character in the 2019 film, not returning to the sequel and being replaced by actor Javon Walton ( Euphoria and Utopia ). I think that Walton was okay in providing the voice of Pugsley, but I think that Wolfhard did a better job. Still, for what its worth, Walton was fine. Interestingly, the character of Uncle Fester, who is once again voiced by comedian actor Nick Kroll ( The League and Sing !) gets a much more large supporting role in The Addams Family 2 . Of course, I love Kroll’s voice and persona of Fester, which is something that I welcome in the movie, but the character seems a bit unnecessary throughout the movie and is only there for the big finale part, which (as mentioned above) feels a bit superfluous.

Other minor players such as and Conrad Vernon as the Addams’s Frankenstein-like Butler Lurch and actress Bette Milder ( Hocus Pocus and The First Wives Club ) as Grandma Addams, and rapper artist Snoop Dog as Cousin It round out the rest of the family members of the Addams Family. Like before, these respective characters have limited screen time in the movie, but the acting talents behind are solid, nonetheless. As a sidenote, even though a large portion don’t like it, I do find it amusing that Snoop Dog does the voice for it…. love the goofy sounding gibberish in the movie.

Of the newcomers, who are mostly the bad guy antagonist characters of the movie, I would say that actor Bill Hader ( Inside Out and Saturday Night Live ) does a fairly decent job in the role of Cyrus Strange, a brilliant scientist who has a keen eye on Wednesday Addams. Hader is certainly know stranger of doing voiceover work for animated projects (both on the big and small screen) and it shows that in The Addams Family 2; feeling comfortable in playing the villain of the narrative. That being said, while Hader’s Cyrus Strange is fine (in voicing the character), the character itself is quite generic and vanilla. Heck, his villainy only really comes to light towards the final stretch of the movie’s story, which is a bit awkward and clunky in my opinion. Thus, the character is rather weak and doesn’t really amount to much. Besides him, the only other “new” character in the movie is found within Mr. Mustela, Cyrus Strange lawyer / lackey, who is voiced by actor Wallace Shawn ( The Princess Bride and Toy Story ). Like Hader, Shawn is quite familiar for doing voiceover for animated endeavors and certainly does fit “right at home” in the film as a minor supporting character. Heck, I think he should’ve been the movie’s villain voice than Hader.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The Addams family hit the road on a cross-country road trip, preparing for family bond moments, yet Wednesday draws an interesting conclusion on her parental linage in the movie The Addams Family 2 . Directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tierman’s latest film takes what was established in the 2019 cartoon feature and expands upon it; delivering a new adventure for the Addams to explore within their goofy ghastly antics of strange and bizarre and finding more about themselves along the way. While the movie is slightly amusing, the animation has improved, and the voice talents involved are still great, the film itself feels disjointed and wonky from the word “go”, especially with its aimless direction, generic road trip premise, hit or miss humor, lackluster story, and some flat characters. Personally, I was disappointed with this movie. Yes, it knew that it wasn’t going something as great Disney and Pixar endeavor, but I was expecting something….. a bit more. Well, a lot more as this sequel is literally several steps backwards in this potential animated franchise. It just didn’t feel like an Addams Family movie….and that’s disappointing part to me. Thus, my recommendation for this movie is a “skip it” as even fans of the first film might be turned away of how this movie pans out. Kids might like this film, but there are far better endeavors out there for them to be distracted with. While the movie ending leaves the door for another sequel, I have suspicious feeling that a third Addams Family movie may not be in the cards. Frankly, I would love to see one, but it would have a more engaging and creative story at work. In the end, The Addams Family 2 is a sequel endeavor that doesn’t work quite as well as intended; loosing its focus in its narrative, macabre hijinks, and the amusing reasons from this “creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky” family.

2.3 Out of 5 (Skip It)

Released on: october 1st, 2021, reviewed on: november 3rd, 2021.

The Addams Family 2   is 93 minutes long and is rated PG for macabre and rude humor, violence, and language

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Excellent review and a fair score for a mediocre movie at best. For me there were some laughs but it disappointed after seeing the first one and enjoying it so much. My kids enjoyed it but not as much as many others. Also, the premise of the plot was confusing and weird to my 7 year old. I hate having to explain things when other plots would have been better.

Yes, I definitely agree.. The plot was a weird and confusing……even for an Addams Family film. I liked the first one, but this sequel….ugh. As always….thank you for the comment and for reading my review!

Happily saving this for after I watch it. I really like reading your reviews

Thank you! I appreciate it a lot. Thank you for the comment!

You’re welcome 😊

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Flickering Myth

Geek Culture | Movies, TV, Comic Books & Video Games

Movie Review – The Addams Family 2 (2021)

January 18, 2022 by Robert Kojder

The Addams Family 2 , 2021.

Directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan. Featuring the voice talents of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Kroll, Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton, Bette Midler, Wallace Shawn, Snoop Dogg, Conrad Vernon, Cherami Leigh, and Bill Hader.

The Addams get tangled up in more wacky adventures and find themselves involved in hilarious run-ins with all sorts of unsuspecting characters.

Returning directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan have a tantalizing idea of what to do with The Addams Family 2 in once again centering the narrative on Wednesday Addams (voiced again by Chloe Grace Moretz, continuing to nail the monotone voice for methods of torture and brainiac scientific experimentation, making the character one of her best roles even if the movies themselves can’t keep up with her), this time more detached from her family than usual while grappling with her identity and where she fits in as an Addams.

In execution (the script comes from a collection of writers, which likely explains the messiness of the whole affair and inability to get to the heart of the story), the filmmakers have decided that the best approach is a generic family vacation, which feels like something you save for about the 5th movie when the well of ideas is dry. Yes, the charming Gomez Adams (Oscar Isaac), alongside his lovingly spooky wife Morticia (Charlize Theron), has decided that the solution for a renewed semblance of unity is bonding across the USA, visiting a combination of traditional landmarks such as Niagara Falls and haunted areas like the mythical Sleepy Hollow.

Creatively bankrupt, I suppose it would still be able to work if the family (which also includes some Pugsley now voiced by Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton and Nick Kroll’s dimwitted, pun-obsessed Uncle Fester) were forced into humorous situations that weave into meaningful dialogue exchanges. Instead, there is contentment driving from location to location where shenanigans ensue (admittedly, sometimes mildly amusing) that’s primarily forgettable and try-hard set to pop music. In pursuit of the titular family is Wallace Shawn’s Mr. Mustela, who has been contracted to bring Wednesday to a place that would reveal the identity of her birth parents. Again, since The Addams Family 2 is more concerned with mining jokes from traveling misadventures, none of it amounts to much until the third act when the screenwriters switch gears to addressing the plot.

Until then, The Addams Family 2 involves Uncle Fester (who was slowly but surely transforming into an octopus for reasons I won’t explain here) passing down his self-published dating advice books to Pugsley, who tries to woo various girls on the vacation. Meanwhile, Wednesday eavesdrops on the conversations between Gomez and Morticia while questioning if it could all be true (Uncle Fester tells recounts a silly hospital nursery story explaining how two babies could have gotten mixed up) and rationalizing that maybe this is why she has always felt so different from the family. Initially, Gomez and Morticia assume it’s one of Wednesday’s schemes to get out of spending time with them, but as the pursuit continues, it becomes clear to them that something else is brewing.

So much of The Addams Family 2 is immediately forgettable, even if it’s nowhere near as lazily constructed as some of the worst animated offenders out there (it’s also impressively rich in CGI detail and pleasant to look at). One would assume a freewheeling approach rather than conventional storytelling would function as a breath of fresh air, but none of it is in service to the characters, rather what hijinks the filmmakers can write the family into at sites like Miami Beach.

The movie does fare better as Bill Hader’s Cyrus is introduced, an identifiably nefarious scientist that could be Wednesday’s actual father. Of course, all of this is predictable, but if The Addams Family 2 had bothered to explore that dynamic and pry into what belonging means to Wednesday (as the story initially proposes) rather than turn its back on that intriguing idea for shoulder-shrugging vacation pratfalls, there would be something worth investing in. These voice actors are precise for the roles and deserve an Addams Family movie with value. Here’s hoping the third time casts a spell.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check  here  for new reviews, follow my  Twitter  or  Letterboxd , or email me at [email protected]

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‘the addams family 2’: film review.

The delightfully macabre family is back, and they're going on a road trip, with Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron and Chloë Grace Moretz reprising their voice roles.

By Lovia Gyarkye

Lovia Gyarkye

Arts & Culture Critic

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If you’ve seen The Addams Family , the 2019 animated revival of Charles Addams’ ghoulish cartoons, then the disappointments of The Addams Family 2 won’t be surprising. This predictable and bland sequel, directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, follows the not-so-grisly family on their first road trip. Maybe it’s because the film’s production, like so many others, was interrupted by COVID-19, or maybe its creators think that younger audiences are less astute viewers, but there’s something about this sequel that just isn’t working.

The film opens with its best and arguably only funny character, Wednesday Addams (voiced marvelously by Chloë Grace Moretz), competing in a school science fair. The homicidal genius daughter of Gomez ( Oscar Isaac ) and Morticia ( Charlize Theron ) begins her presentation with a thinly veiled jab at her family. The lines themselves are nothing spectacular, but its Moretz’s delivery — deliberate, sharp, and with a refreshing confidence — that makes the flick’s opening moments feel promising. In the audience, cheering her on, are Wednesday’s painfully enthusiastic parents and her brother, Pugsley (Javon Walton), willfully ignoring her request for them to stay away from the event.

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Release date: Friday, Oct. 1 Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Kroll, Javon ‘Wanna' Walton, Wallace Shawn, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, Bill Hader Directors: Conrad Vernon, Greg Tiernan Screenwriters: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, Susanna Fogel

Wednesday, along with every other kid who participated, wins the science fair, much to her chagrin. At the end of the ceremony, she meets the man — well, his hologram — who funds the whole enterprise: Cyrus Strange (Bill Hader). He and Wednesday bond over their shared passion for innovation and the fact that they are better (read: smarter) than other people.

The Addams Family 2 ’s problems begin after the science fair, when Gomez and Morticia decide that the family will go on a road trip. Their kids are growing up too fast, skipping family dinner and, as teens do, preferring to spend more time alone. Wednesday, especially, seems to become more disdainful of her parents each day, and is grappling with bigger questions about who she is. Pugsley, on the other hand, has taken a keen interest in girls and is leaning on Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) for advice.

The three-week road trip, which will take them from their home in New Jersey to Death Valley, California, would have been a good opportunity for the film to amp up satirical observations about American life, but it does nothing of the sort. In fact, from Niagara Falls to Miami and on to the Grand Canyon, what happens at each destination feels like more of the same. The members of the family barely interact with other people, and when they do, both the “normie” Americans and the Addams family are rendered in a way that barely piques interest. How many jokes about vapid, selfie-taking tourists can you have before it all gets old?

Of course, this wouldn’t be an Addams family trip without some chaos. And so the screenwriters insert a half-baked plot point that I think is meant to highlight Wednesday’s feelings of isolation and journey to self-discovery. Right before the family embarks on their trip, a mysterious lawyer (Wallace Shawn) approaches Gomez and Morticia, claiming that Wednesday is not their biological daughter. He demands a DNA test, which they refuse. At first they think the man has been hired by Wednesday herself, a clever ruse on their daughter’s part to escape the need to bond with the family, but of course it’s bigger and more sinister than that.

At 93 minutes, The Addams Family 2 feels longer than it actually is, and nothing, not even the new music from contemporary stars like Megan Thee Stallion and Maluma, helps it move any faster. Part of the problem is that even with a relatively well-constructed script (there is a bit of a timeline snafu near the end), the film itself is mostly boring. The one-liners are more corny than clever. I cringed at an interaction between characters where the following sentences were exchanged: “This plant slaps,” says one person. “No, darling, she snaps,” responds the other.

There seems to be a quest both in The Addams Family and in The Addams Family 2 to make the once spine-chilling family relatable, and that’s a shame. In past incarnations, including the 1960s live-action TV series, what has made Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday and Pugsley fun to watch is the way they’re so not relatable in their acerbic humor and deadpan delivery of too-cruel-it’s-hilarious jokes. What these films do is turn them into every other family at the center of an amusing and slightly self-aware comedy. And really, where is the fun in that?

Full credits

Distributor: United Artists Releasing Production companies: Bron Studios, Cinesite Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Kroll, Javon ‘Wanna' Walton, Wallace Shawn, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, Bill Hader Directors: Conrad Vernon, Greg Tiernan Screenwriters: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, Susanna Fogel Based on the characters by Charles Addams Producer: Gail Berman, Conrad Vernon, Danielle Sterling, Alison O’Brien Executive producers: Kevin Miserocchi, Jonathan Glickman, Cassidy Lange, Andrew Mittman, Aaron L. Gilbert, Jason Cloth Editor: Ryan Folsey Composers: Jeff Danna, Mychael Danna Casting director: Robert McGee

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‘The Addams Family 2’ Review: This Spooky Animated Family Sequel Doesn’t Scare Up Much Charm

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The 2019 animated reboot of “The Addams Family” had a tough hill to climb, tasked with appealing to both fans of the classic television series and the popular 1990s live-action movies, but directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon — the duo behind the raunchy “Sausage Party” — were able to make something darling. The duo’s followup, the unimaginatively titled “ The Addams Family 2 ,” doesn’t continue that trend and, in many regards, shows that there’s (finally) no gas left in the tank when it comes to these beloved characters. 

Newly integrated into the world of the average American citizen, when the film opens, the Addams clan seems to be on stable footing, but discontent still lurks, as young Wednesday (voiced by Chloe Grace Moretz) feels adrift from her family. Family patriarch Gomez (voiced by Oscar Isaac), determined to show his daughter how much he loves and supports her, decides to take the gang on a family road trip. Inevitably, the road trip comes with its own issues, especially once Gomez and Morticia (voiced by Charlize Theron) are told Wednesday might not be their daughter after all.

The last animated “Addams Family” venture worked as both an origin story and a contained tale about choosing to live as the type of (appropriately kooky) family that suits your clan best. That sense of structure and inherent spirit is lacking right away, with Wednesday soon using her Uncle Fester (voiced by Nick Kroll) as a subject for a science fair project. She wants to take out his negative qualities and swap them with the more intelligent qualities of her squid pal, Socrates. The experiment doesn’t win her a prize — the joke is “just trying is the same as winning,” which seems a bit mean-spirited right off the bat — but this off-kilter bit does introduce her to a man named Cyrus Strange (voiced by Bill Hader).

Maybe because the Addams family have come to personify all that is strange and unusual, it’s hard to see Wednesday’s affect any differently. She talks about being distanced from her family, but there’s no evidence of it before or leading up to the central conflict, so it leaves the plot clunking and stopping from point-to-point. The road trip and the concerns that Wednesday was possibly switched at birth never feel like organic progressions so much as two different storylines mushed together to fill out the narrative.

That’s made all the more irritating by the fact that there are interesting elements that could yield from either plotline. Audiences didn’t get to see much of Gomez being a tenderhearted father in the last film and this new outing happily corrects that; it is very much his movie. Isaac gets an opportunity to have fun, throwing out different accents (including a hilarious Southern twang) but, more importantly, we see the devoted father he is. The thought of Wednesday entering the awkward teenager phase breaks his heart, but instead of giving her space, he doubles down on smothering her with affection.

But the road trip element of the narrative is little more than an opportunity to plunk the mysterious and spooky Addams clan in different locations. Oddly enough, there’s no sense of mocking or, really, any humor derived from the various locations the group goes to. Whereas the previous features, even the animated one, delighted in seeing the Addams react to people who are different from them, there’s absolutely nothing like that here, with the exception of a running gag about a couple trying to get engaged.

The switched at birth storyline is just as ill-defined, mostly because there never even seems to be a possibility that it will be true. Uncle Fester talks about being involved in the situation, but even in the flashback, there’s never a doubt that Wednesday is an Addams. It’s a red herring through and through, and when the narrative unwinds to its conclusion, it’s all held together by process of elimination.

Because Cyrus is the only outsider the Addams meet, it’s obvious he’ll be involved somehow, yet his entire subplot is only wrapped up within the last 15 minutes of the feature. Even Gomez’s sadness at possibly losing his daughter is rushed through, one of  many  moments in the film where anything passing for sentimentality is immediately (and jarringly) followed by loud noises or rap music. It’s almost as if the film’s creative team is afraid of losing the audience to any moments that make the characters feel human, as opposed to weirdos who simply enjoy fart-based humor.

That’s a step back, as one of the biggest surprises of the first animated film was in Tiernan and Vernon’s ability to bring some of their more adult-centric humor to a decidedly family-friendly film. Much of that is tamped down here, mostly in favor of toilet humor and at least one sequence that sees Uncle Fester juggling, only to fall down the stairs screaming, “My balls!” Other moments poke fun at horror conventions, including a mind-reading segment that shows off just how smart and fun this all could be.

Not that there isn’t time to amp up the smarts and laughs: The movie barely clocks in at feature length, with the final 10-15 comprised of a music performance by Snoop Dogg, who also plays Cousin IT, and animated credits showing the Addams on a trip around the world. Why was that  adventure not the focus of this movie? A missed opportunity through and through, “The Addams Family 2” is a giant step backward for a franchise that already had its work cut out for it and mostly succeeded the first time around. If this is what the Addams family are up to these days, audiences likely won’t feel compelled to go along on the next altogether ooky outing.

A United Artists and MGM release, “The Addams Family 2” is in theaters and on demand on now.

As new movies open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the  safety precautions  provided by CDC and health authorities. Additionally, our coverage will provide alternative viewing options whenever they are available.

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The Addams Family

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Watch The Addams Family with a subscription on Paramount+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

The movie is peppered with amusing sight gags and one-liners, but the disjointed script doesn't cohere into a successful whole.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Barry Sonnenfeld

Anjelica Huston

Morticia Addams

Gomez Addams

Christopher Lloyd

Uncle Fester

Tully Alford, Addams' Attorney

Elizabeth Wilson

Abigail Craven

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clock This article was published more than  2 years ago

The Addams Family are a bunch of weirdos. So why isn’t ‘The Addams Family 2’ a whole lot weirder?

Think, for a minute, about the Gothic, black-and-white family of ghouls first introduced by cartoonist Charles Addams in the pages of the New Yorker, and later given flesh in the beloved 1960s TV show “The Addams Family” and two 1990s live-action movies. There’s Gomez, with his pencil mustache; Morticia, with her witchy, flowing, floor-length gown; Wednesday, their death-obsessed daughter; Uncle Fester, with the cue-ball head; Lurch, the Frankensteinian butler.

They’re weirdos. Why, then, is “The Addams Family 2” so . . . meh?

The animated feature follows the 2019 film that reintroduced this clan of oddballs — first drawn in 1938 — to a younger audience. But where the original film celebrated the individuality of the family in an increasingly conformist world, the sequel sees Wednesday (voice of Chloë Grace Moretz) believing that she doesn’t belong in her own family. To lift the family’s spirits, her parents (Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron) set out with the family on a road trip — destination Death Valley, of course — but are tracked along the way by someone claiming to need Wednesday’s DNA for a genetic test that will prove she was switched at birth with another baby.

So far, so not-weird. Just convoluted.

The first hour or so never picks up a speed beyond plodding, which is unfortunate since the movie clocks in at just over 90 minutes. The bulky, cookie-cutter CGI does the movie no favors either, compared with the more iconic look of the original cartoons and television show. There’s also a bizarre, overt ad for Progressive Insurance that pops up in the middle of the movie. What’s worse, “The Addams Family 2” relies too heavily on silly jokes that will get a chuckle out of its youngest viewers — and maybe a few adults. (I’ll admit that Gomez doing a goofy Texas accent got a laugh out of me.)

The most ghastly thing about the whole movie? The mainstreaming of these most outsider-y of outsiders.

Not only are the visual aesthetics off, but the film for some reason shoehorns bright, pop-driven musical numbers into this world. Of course, everyone wants to hear the infectious theme song, with its signature snap-snap . But that doesn’t mean that there should be a whole production number set to “I Will Survive” or — spoiler alert — that the film should end with a Snoop Dogg concert. (The rapper/actor voices Cousin Itt, because: Why not?) The screenplay also incorporates filmdom’s now obligatory, lifeless smattering of youth lingo. Think: “whole mood” and “slaps.”

The film’s loopy premise is almost strange enough, at least as far as kids’ movies go, but not quite. The scientist (Bill Hader) who claims to be Wednesday’s biological father has an odd fixation with combining human and animal DNA. This leads to a few startling plots elements: a little pig-person, a bird-woman and a climactic battle featuring a mega-octopus.

And yet the shock value feels unearned, given how pedestrian everything leading up to this precipice of strange really is. A simple plea for any future Addams Family installments: Keep the Addamses weird!

PG.  At area theaters and available on demand. Contains macabre and rude humor, violence and strong language. 92 minutes.

• Cast & crew
• User reviews

The Addams Family

The eccentrically macabre family moves to a bland suburb where Wednesday Addams' friendship with the daughter of a hostile and conformist local reality show host exacerbates conflict between... Read all The eccentrically macabre family moves to a bland suburb where Wednesday Addams' friendship with the daughter of a hostile and conformist local reality show host exacerbates conflict between the families. The eccentrically macabre family moves to a bland suburb where Wednesday Addams' friendship with the daughter of a hostile and conformist local reality show host exacerbates conflict between the families.

• Greg Tiernan
• Conrad Vernon
• Matt Lieberman
• Erica Rivinoja
• Oscar Isaac
• Charlize Theron
• Chloë Grace Moretz
• 371 User reviews
• 187 Critic reviews
• 46 Metascore
• 4 wins & 6 nominations

• Gomez Addams

• Morticia Addams

• Wednesday Addams

• Pugsley Addams

• Uncle Fester

• Margaux Needler

• Grandpa Frump

• Grandma Frump

• Great Auntie Sloom

• Candi the Barista

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• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia In the movie, the family moves to Westfield, New Jersey, where their creator Charles Addams grew up.
• Goofs When Cousin It arrives, he was assumed to be driving and came into the house alone, but he exited the car from the rear passenger side.

[Wednesday enters holding a red balloon]

Morticia Addams : Strange, there's usually a murderous clown attached to the other end of these...

• Crazy credits At the start of the closing credits is an animated version of the The Addams Family (1964) opening credits, with Thing providing lyrics to sing along to.
• Connections Featured in AniMat's Crazy Cartoon Cast: The Cartoon Community Went Too Far (2018)
• Soundtracks Addams Family Theme Written by Vic Mizzy

User reviews 371

• Oct 16, 2019
• How long is The Addams Family? Powered by Alexa
• October 11, 2019 (United States)
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Cinesite Animation
• Official Site
• Gia Đình Addams
• New York City, New York, USA (location)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)
• BRON Studios
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $24,000,000 (estimated)
• $100,723,831
• $30,300,007
• Oct 13, 2019
• $204,394,183

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 26 minutes
• Dolby Atmos
• Dolby Digital
• 12-Track Digital Sound

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The addams family, common sense media reviewers.

So-so adaptation isn't spooky, kooky enough; a few scares.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Promotes accepting those who are different from yo

Gomez and Morticia love each other and their kids.

Townsfolk with pitchforks, torches drive Addams fa

As always, Gomez and Morticia are deeply in love a

Insults include "freak," "weirdo," "monsters," "gh

Nothing on-screen, but off-screen merchandise incl

A wedding tradition includes putting a lime in a c

Parents need to know that The Addams Family is the latest take on the popular characters who've already been the subject of cartoons, a classic TV show, and two early '90s movies. It's not quite as macabre as its live-action predecessors, but there's still plenty of dark humor, an emphasis on violence and…

Positive Messages

Promotes accepting those who are different from you and not forcing conformity and assimilation on everyone. Parker and Wednesday each rebel in their own way but want to feel loved unconditionally and be accepted as they test their boundaries. Character strengths such as teamwork and empathy are important to the story.

Positive Role Models

Gomez and Morticia love each other and their kids. Wednesday wants to see what's beyond her family's mansion. Parker doesn't want to go along with everyone else like her mother wants. Not a lot of cultural inclusion, but there is equal focus on girl and boy characters.

Violence & Scariness

Townsfolk with pitchforks, torches drive Addams family out of the Old Country (Eastern Europe). They respond by using swords; instead of injuring people, they slice open their trousers (which fall and reveal underwear). People hurl and catapult fiery rocks/boulders that cause lots of property damage. A character is struck by a car but survives. Wednesday's braids end in the form of a noose. Wednesday and Pugsley often fight with weapons and explosives, and it's common for Wednesday to shoot an arrow at Fester. An Addams rite of passage requires each Addams to do a choreographed dance with a special sword. At school, Wednesday shocks the dissection frogs back to life. A climactic confrontation between the Addams and the Assimilation town causes property damage, minor injuries. The house itself yells "Get out!" in a spooky voice. A girl is an overt bully at school. Most of the dark/violent content is intended to be funny.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

As always, Gomez and Morticia are deeply in love and passionate -- kissing, embracing, slow-dancing. Thing is caught scrolling through internet images of bejeweled and manicured hands that are clearly implied to be "hand" pornography. Man in bath without his shirt on.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Insults include "freak," "weirdo," "monsters," "ghoul," "lemmings," and lyric "pimp" (in the edited Snoop Dogg song that plays as Cousin It rolls up to the house).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Nothing on-screen, but off-screen merchandise includes apparel, gifts, and toys.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

A wedding tradition includes putting a lime in a coconut drink and then drinking it, but it's not clear whether there's alcohol in the drink.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Addams Family is the latest take on the popular characters who've already been the subject of cartoons , a classic TV show , and two early '90s movies . It's not quite as macabre as its live-action predecessors, but there's still plenty of dark humor, an emphasis on violence and weapons, and incidents when townsfolk raise arms against the eerie Addamses. Insult language includes words like "freaks," "monsters," and "lemmings," as well as a few Addams family spins on endearments or encouragements (like "do your worst" and "kick your father goodnight"). As always, Gomez (voiced by Oscar Isaac ) and Morticia ( Charlize Theron ) are presented as caring parents who are very much in love; the movie also promotes acceptance, teamwork, and empathy. Chloe Grace Moretz and Finn Wolfhard co-star as Addams children Wednesday and Pugsley. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (26)
• Kids say (52)

Based on 26 parent reviews

Not sure why it has such bad reviews

Fine for the whole family, what's the story.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY begins with a young Morticia (voiced by Charlize Theron ) and Gomez ( Oscar Isaac ) getting married in the Old Country in front of friends and family. But an angry mob of villagers interrupts, driving the clan out of what's presumably Eastern Europe. The newlyweds and their servant, Thing (a sentient severed hand), decide to flee to New Jersey and take up residence in an abandoned asylum for the criminally insane. Gomez and Morticia proceed to raise their two children, Wednesday ( Chloe Grace Moretz ) and Pugsley ( Finn Wolfhard ). As a family rite of passage approaches for Pugsley, the Addamses -- who are quite secluded in their mansion -- must deal with their neighbors down the hill, where home improvement guru Margaux Needler ( Allison Janney ) has designed a planned community called "Assimilation." She wants the creepy family to redecorate or vacate.

Is It Any Good?

With its star-studded voice cast and name recognition, audiences will expect more laughs -- or frights -- from this unremarkable reboot of the legendary macabre comedy. Unfortunately, The Addams Family 's storyline about obsessively controlling home-improvement Margaux creating a cookie-cutter community is bland and underwhelming. Wednesday's foray into junior high, where she befriends Margaux's daughter, Parker ( Elsie Fisher ), starts off promisingly but quickly falls flat with predictable antics. Yes, there are a few laughs, mostly involving the extended family -- including Uncle Fester ( Nick Kroll ) and Grandma ( Bette Midler ) -- and the requisite New Jersey jokes, which kids might not even get. Moretz and Wolfhard are good at their bored, disaffected voices, while Isaac and Theron seem to pay tribute to the famous actors who previously portrayed Gomez and Morticia, particularly Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston .

There's a special place in pop culture history for The Addams Family , although it's possible younger viewers may not know much more than summer-camp spoofs of the legendary theme song. It's too bad this Halloween-timed incarnation is only decent enough to get families (particularly those with nostalgic parents) into theaters for a seasonal screening, rather than to rebuild a franchise. It would be far better to simply stream, rent, or buy the previous versions of the Addams Family than to make this serviceable but unremarkable adaptation the definitive depiction of the blissfully creepy family.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in The Addams Family . Is it necessary to the story? How does the movie's comic tone affect the impact of the violent moments?

Are animated movies less frightening than live-action movies? Why or why not? Do they impact younger viewers differently? How much scary stuff can young kids handle?

The movie deals with the conflict between assimilation/conformity and individuality/eccentricity. How do the Addamses stand apart from their neighbors? Why are people who rebel against social standards often seen as threatening?

Do you consider anyone in the movie a role model ? What character strengths do they display? Why is family so important to the Addamses?

Movie Details

• In theaters : May 23, 2023
• On DVD or streaming : January 21, 2020
• Cast : Charlize Theron , Finn Wolfhard , Chloe Grace Moretz
• Directors : Greg Tiernan , Conrad Vernon
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : United Artists Releasing
• Genre : Family and Kids
• Topics : Brothers and Sisters , Monsters, Ghosts, and Vampires
• Run time : 105 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : macabre and suggestive humor, and some action
• Last updated : May 13, 2024

Did we miss something on diversity?

More From Forbes

‘wednesday’ star releasing her own tarot card deck and guidebook.

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Christina Ricci at the 81st Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 7, 2024 ... [+] in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Golden Globes 2024/Golden Globes 2024 via Getty Images)

Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday co-star Christina Ricci is sharing her fortunes with a new tarot deck and guidebook.

Tarot card maker Insight Editions announced in a post on X this week it is partnering with Ricci—who starred in Season 1 of Tim Burton’s hit Netflix series—on the forthcoming release of the Cat Full of Spiders Tarot Deck and Guidebook .

Ricci also revealed the cover of the guidebook and three of the tarot cards on her Instagram page . An imprint of Simon & Schuster, Insight Editions’ Cat Full of Spiders Tarot Deck and Guidebook , which features a foreword by Ricci, is set for September 24.

"This tarot deck is a passion project for me. It is filled with references to moments in my life and touches on the moments that come our way as we journey through the world," Ricci told People in a statement. "I hope that it introduces people to the wonder of tarot, or for those that are already ingratiated, provides an expanded connection to it."

Insight Editions noted in its announcement of the guidebook , “Guide your mystical tarot practice with this epic tarot deck and guidebook created by Christina Ricci, filled with original, never-before-seen artwork inspired by her renowned body of work. Ricci’s career perfectly suits a one-of-a-kind tarot deck—she’s played witches, angsty teens, superheroes and runaways.”

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The guidebook is 128 pages long and the tarot deck includes 78 cards. According to Insight Editions, Ricci wrote the forward for the book, “detailing what tarot means to her and why it’s the perfect format to detail her personal and professional journey.”

The Cat Full of Spiders Tarot Deck and Guidebook is up for pre-order on various online retailers including Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Books-A-Million with a suggested retail price of $29.99.

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 16: (L-R) Jenna Ortega and Christina Ricci attends the world ... [+] premiere of Netflix's "Wednesday" at Hollywood Legion Theater on November 16, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty Images)

Ricci Has Appeared In Several Story Genres Throughout Her Career

In Wednesday Season 1, Christina Ricci plays Marilyn Thornhill, who is the dorm mom of Wednesday Addams ( Jenna Ortega ) and her roommate, Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers), and also teaches botanical science at Nevermore Academy.

Wednesday marks a parallel universe situation of sorts for Ortega and Ricci since Ricci originated the role of Wednesday Addams on the big screen in the 1991 film version of The Addams Family .

The Cat Full of Spiders Tarot Deck and Guidebook marks the latest project for Ricci in her storied showbiz career.

After making her film debut opposite Cher and Winona Ryder in the 1990 comedy drama romance Mermaids , Ricci went on to star in The Addams Family a year later and its 1993 sequel Addams Family Values .

In addition, Ricci has starred in such films as The Ice Storm , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas , Monster and Sleepy Hollow —the latter of which marked her first project with director Tim Burton. Ricci also starred in the fourth Matrix film The Matrix Resurrections in 2021.

On TV, Ricci has stared in the telefilm Lizzie Borden Took an Axe and miniseries The Lizzie Borden Chronicles , and more recently, she stars as the adult version of the pivotal character Misty in the horror mystery drama series Yellowjackets .

It’s unclear at this point whether Ricci will be back for Wednesday Season 2 , which is currently in production and awaiting a release date.

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