The Addams Family

THE ADDAMS FAMILY - MGM

MGM's Addams Family is this year’s biggest horror. Directing duo Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan's animated reboot of the much-beloved gothic comedy is a lifeless and meaningless cash grab that serves zero purpose. A disaster from start to finish with no charisma or bravado that will ultimately stain this franchise for decades to come.

The style and gothic horror have been stripped away in an aesthetic not too dissimilar to the Despicable Me franchise. In fact, put side to side, the difference would be incredibly minor or even unidentifiable at times. An animation derivative of an ugly, simplistic and uninspiring design is one thing, but exercising said design for something as visually excessive and imperative as The Addams Family is such a colossal waste demands accountability.

If it gets anything right, the voice performances are more or less suitable and well produced. Oscar Issac and Charlize Theron as Gomez and Morticia Addams, respectively, are on fire form. Issac in particular fits the role like a glove and his charismatic nature is just about brought to fruition, but much like Theron's rendition, the roles are underutilised with monotonous material provided that fails even to get a pitty laugh than anything else. Finn Wolfhard and Chloe Grace Moretz take the primary core of material in their respective roles as Pugsley and Wednesday. Each character has a solid if not a slightly conventional and dull trajectory, but that very charm and wit found in the original Barry Sonenfield pictures are astonishingly wanting and flat this time around.

Capped off with a deliriously obtuse and perplexing soundtrack with the likes of Christina Aguilera, Migos and Snoop Dogg and a narrative so chaotically insufferable and uneventful, this supposed reboot of the famed family property offers little to no entertainment or surprise in a rudimentary and tedious affair.

The Addams Family is released on October 25, 2019.