Addams Family cartoon revival falls flat
The Addams Family used to be creepy, kooky, mysteriously spooky and very funny — sadly, the latest instalment has been put through Hollywood’s cartoon woodchipper.
Leigh Paatsch
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They used to be creepy, kooky, mysteriously spooky, and very, very funny. But that was back in the 1960s, when they had their own TV show. And again in the 1990s, when they were revived by the movies.
But now the mirthfully macabre clan known as the Addams Family – an iconic creation of legendary New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams – have been fed into Hollywood’s cartoon woodchipper.
What has come out the other side are small bits and pieces of the original concept’s charm, and large chunks of joyless filler that flatten all goodwill in the room.
Kids who’ve never heard of the Addams Family might be diverted for a little while, then distracted as a thick blanket of bland fog descends upon the entire enterprise.
Of the voice talent, only Oscar Isaac as wacky Addams patriarch Gomez gives it a red-hot go. Charlize Theron (as Morticia), Chloe Grace Moretz (Wednesday) and Finn Wolfhard (Pugsley) zestlessly go through the motions.
As often happens when an old vehicle with a lot of kilometres on the clock is given a thematic turbo-boost for modern audiences, the changes made to the core premise are a total bust.
In fact, the movie is pretty much over once you hear the name of the town the Addams live in. It is called Assimilation.
A conniving TV celeb-cum-property-tycoon (Alison Janney) has a plan to sell a plum parcel of properties in Assimilation, and the dilapidated eyesore of a mansion that is the Addams’ home is the one thing that could put a hole in her profit margins.
TWO POPES TARGETS HEAD AND HEART
KNIVES OUT HAS PLENTY OF TWISTS AND TURNS
Meanwhile, an oblivious Gomez and Morticia have their own issues with the outside world they need to work through, while Pugsley and Wednesday face up to the usual teen traumas.
Loyal servant Lurch and the indescribable family associate Thing occasionally show up to liven up the mix, but there is not nearly enough of them to make the right kind of difference.
There will be much, much better fare for youngsters coming soon with the summer holidays on the way.
The Addams Family (PG)
Rating: *1/2
Directors: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon
Starring: The voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloe Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard.
Haunted house no home to hilarity