The Addams Family 2 - Review

 

In what is easily one of the shortest gaps of time between two animated films, “The Addams Family 2” hits theatres and digital rental storefronts a mere week shy of the first film’s second birthday. It's easy to see how the quick turnaround was possible; there have been minimal, if any, improvements made to the animation or art style. The big question then is does this sequel manage to improve upon the first film’s abysmal plot?

In a way, yes, but not for the reasons one would think. Retaining none of the writers from the first film, “Addams 2” sees the family going on a cross country family road trip to grow closer together. Along the way, a side plot involving Wednesday potentially not being the child of Morticia and Gomez crops up, as well as Wednesday getting to meet one of her scientist idols.

Its a woefully overblown plot for a film that somehow manages to feel extremely light on happenings. The idea of watching the Addams’s running around at various US landmarks and wreaking havoc is a fun one, and those moments are the best part of the film. You could argue that if you just cut out everything else and just served those up, you’d have a pretty fun family film. Yet, that takes up only half of the already brief runtime.

Half of the film consists of scenes filled with scattershot gags and moments of odd Addams humor. It works for the most part, despite still being peppered with some truly groan inducing lines. Its everything surrounding that half of the film that becomes almost nauseatingly boring.

Despite being overall mediocre, the first film’s subplot involving the town of Assimilation and their quest to get rid of the Addams was oddly terrible to the point that it at least made for an eventful viewing. Here, the chase subplots and questions of Wednesday's parentage are just delivered with lackluster enthusiasm. It has all the energy of a birthday clown who’s all but given up. Clearly the four credited writers, Dan Hernandez (“Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” “One Day At A Time (2017)”), Benji Samit (“Pokémon Detective Pikachu,” “One Day At A Time (2017)”), Ben Queen (“Powerless,” “Cars 3”), and Susanna Fogel (“Booksmart,” “The Spy Who Dumped Me”), either don’t understand the kind of energy required for an Addams adventure or they just found it satisfactory to turn in a simple, phoned-in script.

Directors Conrad Vernon (“Shrek 2,” “Sausage Party”) and Greg Tiernan (“The Addams Family (2019),” “Sausage Party”) return from the first film and they’ve delivered a film that exhibits no other emotion but apathy. It's the kind of project so lacking in vision and enthusiasm that you can’t help but feel bad for the voice actors clearly giving it their all. Charlize Theron (“Long Shot,” “Atomic Blonde”) and Oscar Isaac (“Ex Machina,” “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”) continue to be excellent choices for Morticia and Gomez, Nick Kroll (“Kroll Show,” “Big Mouth”)is a demented delight as Uncle Fester and even Snoop Dogg’s (“The Wash,” “Soul Plane”) odd performance as Cousin Itt has some novelty.

Yet, despite returning from the first film, Chloë Grace Moretz (“Kick-Ass,” “The Miseducation of Cameron Post”) is operating entirely on autopilot here. Granted Wednesday is supposed to speak each line with a flat, droll delivery, but even with that, it's a phoned-in performance. Meanwhile, Javon Walton (“euphoria,” “Utopia (2020)”) voices Pugsly, replacing Finn Wolfhard from the first film, and it's hard to tell if the character is just the least interesting of the film or if his performance is indistinguishable from Wolfhard’s.

By the time the third act of the movie turns into a giant monster fight, it's hard to elicit anything other than a shrug for the road trip with the creepiest and kookiest family. The premise is solid, and much like the first film it has some great vocal talent and the moments where the Addams are just being themselves are excellent. Yet, the writer’s seem to have shoved them into a completely different film for half of the runtime, repurposing a plot that, on paper, could work for the family. Mutating monsters and a knock-off Dr. Moreau plot seems like perfect Addams fare and yet it crashes before it's even off of the runway.

In some ways, one could argue that this sequel is an improvement over the first. The designs of everyone outside of the Addams’s are thankfully far more palatable, and the groan worthy subplot of the first film is replaced with one that works on paper for the family. Yet, it's still a film operating for the lowest common denominator for characters that deserve far better. Sure, it's a product to make money at the end of the day, but so were the 90’s films and they understood what those characters are far better. By the time the Addams’s disguise themselves as cowboys in the second act, anyone who harbors any love of these characters will hopefully have turned and run far far away. 1.5/5