The Addams Family is back and this time out in The Addams Family 2, the kooky clan are hitting the road. The animated follow-up to the 2019 hit film features some impeccably cast voice talent.
Charlize Theron dazzles as Morticia Addams, while Oscar Isaac is iconically ideal to embody Gomez, while Chloë Grace Moretz as Wednesday Addams is sublime, and Javon ‘Wanna’ Walton tackles Wednesday’s explosive-loving little brother, Pugsley Addams. Nick Kroll voicing Uncle Fester is in so many ways just what the character needs. After all, the most recent Uncle Fester audiences recall is the legendary Christopher Lloyd and those are some seriously enormous shoes to fill. Snoop Dogg voices Cousin It and thankfully in the follow-up, we get to hear him in his own voice—at least… well, you’ll have to see it to see what I’m talking about.
Whereas the 2019 film largely involved themes of acceptance and being oneself, regardless of the cost, the sequel continues those—but goes much deeper into the arena of family and what exactly defines that concept.
The Addams Family 2 focuses immensely on Wednesday and through her journey in the sequel, one is left with the sense that family simultaneously can and cannot be defined by blood. When a Wallace Shawn (The Princess Bride) voiced character shows up right before the Addams’ hit the road on their three-week family road trip across the country, he launches a search for identity for Wednesday that is made all the more complicated by the fact that her father is trying almost too hard to make their relationship work.
You may recall in the first, Wednesday occasionally wondered how she is related to this family. Her intelligence and scientific curiosity is off the charts, something she shares with nobody. As the sequel begins, it is at a science fair at Wednesday’s school, and she is just operating on another level than the other students. There’s the typical homemade volcano and meanwhile, Wednesday is attempting to elevate her Uncle’s IQ via what would absolutely be considered an unethical experiment—merging Fester’s DNA with her squid, Socrates. By the close of the fair, “everyone” is declared the winner, which Wednesday has a field day with—to our amusement.
The awards are handed out by Cyrus (Bill Hader), a tech giant who is there via hologram. He seems something in Wednesday that touches the budding scientist. So, one can see how she might be embarrassed by her family… add the fact that she believes that intellectually she is operating on another level than them, and it’s an impressive soul-searching premise as they head off on their vacation in their “haunted” RV.
There is something inherently endearing about the Addams family and is just one reason why audiences have kept them in the popular cultural canon since the comic strip debuted in 1938 in The New Yorker. When the television show premiered in 1966, the medium provided a perfect arena for furthering their reach—which is exactly what happened over 64 episodes and two seasons. Then, in 1991 a live-action film would further extend the pop culture reach of the morbid-loving family. It was so popular, that it too earned a sequel.
When this incarnation of the Family arrived in animated form two years ago, it was a welcomed return to the institution’s roots. The characters could push the envelope on a myriad of levels—something that cannot be achieved in the same manner with live-action. Toss in that precision casting, and the film’s success should—in hindsight—surprise nobody.
Sure, the Addams’ have their reasons for wanting to drive across America and visit some of the great countries’ dark history. But from a storytelling perspective, it was wickedly smart to get them out of their house. By the close of the 2019 film, they had reached a peace with the locals that had wanted to run them out of town—yes, pitchforks and torches were involved. What better way to capture that fish out of water element that has been a part of the Addams Family DNA since the 30s than to have them drive across parts of the USA where being different is decisively a bad thing.
All the while, Wednesday is wondering what it is that her parents are keeping from her, i.e., why that man (voiced by Shawn) showed up at their house before they left and why he continues to pursue them as they go from Niagara Falls to San Antonio’s Alamo (Hotel!) and even the Grand Canyon, which Pugsley doesn’t find so “grand.”
Moretz rises to the occasion. The Addams Family 2 is still very much an ensemble piece, but it is the Wednesday character who does a lot of heavy lifting emotionally and soul building. The Kick-Ass star has a character arc that thespians read in a script with and instantly do a jig with the excitement that runs through one’s veins when presented with such an enormous challenge. She is pitch-perfect throughout, particularly in the third act when it appears that some serious change might be coming to the family Addams.
One of the things that was so enjoyable about the 2019 film was how it was funny, approachable, and did a stellar job of introducing this out-there family to a younger generation while concurrently providing much for us longtime fans to adore. One of those new generation souls was my daughter, who was six at the time. Now eight, her excitement over the sequel was palpable when I asked if she would watch the review screener with me. The Addams Family 2 is not exclusively for kids, something animated films have done extremely well for the last two decades. But their success is driven by that younger group who will want to see it again and again.
Proof that a sequel has done its job arrived when I asked her if she liked it. She said, “No, I didn’t like it. I LOVED it!” Don’t think an animated film in 2021 could get any higher of an endorsement. Yes, she asked to see it again as soon as those credits rolled. One guess as to what we’re doing this weekend.
Grade: A-