The Addams Family 2 (2021)
The Addams Family 2 is a 2021 computer-animated supernatural black comedy road film directed by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, co-directed by Laura Brousseau and Kevin Pavlovic,[4] written by Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, and Susanna Fogel with a story by Hernandez and Samit,[5] and based on the characters created by Charles Addams.[6] It is the sequel to the 2019 film The Addams Family and stars the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Kroll, Javon Walton, Wallace Shawn, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Bill Hader. It tells the story of the Addams family as they go on a road trip.
The Addams Family 2 (2021)
At a science fair, Wednesday Addams is set to present her experiment, where she uses her pet squid Socrates' DNA on Uncle Fester to show how humans can be improved (with the side effect of gradually transmutating Fester). However, she is dismayed when she sees her family arrive. Nonetheless, her work gets noticed by scientist Cyrus Strange. Back at the Addams' home, Gomez worries that the children are drifting apart from him and Morticia, so he decides to take them on a family vacation. Before the family, Fester, Thing and Lurch head on a road trip across the United States, Gomez and Morticia are approached by a lawyer named Mr. Mustela, who claims that Wednesday was switched at birth and may not actually be an Addams, but they ignore him. On the road, the Addams family is pursued by Mustela and his employer's henchman Pongo.
The family is initially set on going to Salem, Massachusetts, but Fester, who is slowly mutating due to the experiment, ends up making a detour to Niagara Falls. The family later stops in Sleepy Hollow, New York. Gomez and Morticia bring up Mustela and his claims about Wednesday, so Fester mentions a story when he visited Wednesday the day she was born and juggled babies in the delivery room. This only worsens Gomez and Morticia's fears that Wednesday may not be their biological child, which Wednesday overhears.
Gomez brings everyone to Miami to get in touch with Cousin Itt, in hopes he can help with their current dilemma. Itt joins them on the trip as they pass through San Antonio and leaves the family early at the Grand Canyon. Meanwhile, Wednesday traps Mustela in a rope trap on her own and learns he is working for Cyrus before "letting him go". Cyrus suggests to Wednesday that he is her true father and invites her to his home in Sausalito, California. Wednesday runs a DNA test using Gomez's hair, which seemingly proves that she is not his daughter. Wednesday leaves the family while they sleep, but Lurch catches up with her. The rest of the Addams learn where she is heading and follow suit.
Wednesday reunites with her family and they return home along with Pongo and Ophelia, the latter of whom has become fully human following contact with Wednesday's formula and falls in love with Pugsley. While Wednesday knew that Cyrus faked his DNA test results, Gomez reveals to Wednesday that he wears a toupée after losing his original hair in a napalm accident. He promises the family that next time, he will take them on a trip across the world.
Sandie Angulo Chen of Common Sense Media gave the film 3 stars out of 5 and wrote "Silly sequel focuses on family love; peril, some racy jokes."[28] Meagan Navarro of Bloody Disgusting gave 2 bones out of 5 and wrote "The Addams Family 2 might change its scenery, but it doesn't deviate from its approach. It's still a ridiculous, straightforward animated update to an enduring property. Grown-ups may disown this take on The Addams Family, but it was never meant for adults anyway. This focuses solely on tickling the funny bone of the youngest of audiences. In other words, it's not a great movie, but it likely succeeds in its goal as a manic comedy bit for children. That it steps further away from a grim aesthetic means it's a far more anemic gateway into the genre than before."[29] Molly Freeman of Screen Rant called the film "[...] a shallow continuation that spends too much time on unconnected hijinks resulting in an uneven sequel with much less heart."[30]
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 Yorker, 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.
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.
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.
Parents need to know that The Addams Family 2 is the "family road trip" sequel to 2019's animated The Addams Family. Like that film, it's not as scary as its live-action predecessors, but there's no shortage of dark humor or cartoon violence. Wednesday (voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz) is perpetually trying to kill/harm her brother Pugsley (Javon "Wanna" Walton), and she traps a man who hangs upside down over a cliff before presumably falling to his death. It has big explosions; characters in peril, held captive, or sedated; human experimentation; fighting; an homage to the movie Carrie (with red paint instead of blood); and a destructive battle between gigantic monsters. Some of the creatures in the Addams Family world can look scary, and the family experiences emotional moments when they're told that Wednesday may not biologically be an Addams. Expect to hear insult language like "freak" and "weirdo," as well as a few Addams-style endearments (like "murderous maternal instincts" and "witch"). Gomez (Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron) continue to be depicted as caring parents who are very much in love (kissing, dancing, and exchanging affectionate gestures and innuendoes fairly frequently). This movie also finds Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll) advising Pugsley on dating, resulting in some pretty cheesy pickup lines and flirting. A joke substitutes "tentacles" for "testicles." Adult characters drink in a couple of scenes. Ultimately, the movie promotes communication, teamwork, and the value of a family's unconditional love.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2 starts with Wednesday Addams (voiced by Chloë Grace Moretz) showing off an impressive science fair project but being disappointed when everyone at the fair is deemed a winner. When Gomez (Oscar Isaac) worries that angsty Wednesday is distancing herself from the family, he decides to plan a last-minute road trip across the United States for the family, including his wife Morticia (Charlize Theron), kids Wednesday and Pugsley (Javon "Wanna" Walton), Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll), their butler/bodyguard Lurch (Conrad Vernon), and Thing, a disembodied hand servant. The family's trip is complicated by the fact that a mysterious man named Rupert (Wallace Shawn) shows up insisting that he has clients who believe that Wednesday and their daughter might have been switched at birth, making Wednesday their biological daughter. Morticia and Gomez use the trip to manufacture more forced family fun -- and also to avoid Rupert. Meanwhile, back at the Addams mansion, Grandma (Bette Midler) hosts a profitable (but fake) music festival.
This serviceable animated sequel focuses on Wednesday's feelings of alienation and benefits from the family's kid-friendly jokes and road trip adventures. Perhaps because the first movie was so underwhelming, this follow-up seems a bit more rooted in the family's kooky antics. Since the Addamses visit well-known places on their trips -- like Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, etc. -- the movie offers a relatable storyline, despite the family's generally eccentric nature. Isaac and Theron once again channel the passionately in-love Gomez and Morticia (they're arguably the most ardent animated parents in movie history) but manage to also convey -- in between arm kisses and caresses -- how worried they are about Wednesday. Parents will empathize with Gomez and Morticia's desire to encourage more family togetherness as their kids get older. 041b061a72