There are so many iterations of The Addams Family that has appeared on both TV and the silver screen that it’s really hard for me to judge the new CGI film based on any single one of them. I also have to take into account that these TV shows, cartoons, and movies existed in a time span of more than 50 years.

The Addams Family 1992 cartoon is the adaptation I grew up with. Image taken from The Addams Family Fandom Wiki.

Of course, the people who watched the first ever TV adaptation back in 1964 probably aren’t the ones who are keen to watch the new movie. I’m going to guess that the most memorable adaptations are probably the 1991 movie where Anjelica Huston was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance as Morticia Addams and the 1992 cartoon which was broadcasted on Cartoon Network Malaysia, if I’m not mistaken.

So does The Addams Family 2019 reboot deserves to be the family friendly Halloween movie of your choice for this year? I believe it does.

Spooky And Kooky, In A Cute Way

Being set as a reboot means that new audiences are given a chance to acquaint themselves to the characters and The Addams Family manages to do this quite well.

As someone who hasn’t watched any cartoon channels for the past 5 years, I don’t know if kids nowadays are familiar with the eponymous family but if they aren’t, it shouldn’t be a problem because the movie introduces them in a brief but very proper manner.

For those of you who grew up watching any one of the TV or movie adaptations, you’ll be happy to know that the horribly quirky personalities of the characters have remain faithful to their original counterparts.

Gomez (Oscar Isaac) appears to be less laid-back than he usually is but still maintains his literally undying love towards his family, especially his wife Morticia (Charlize Theron). Personally, I found Morticia to be my favourite character from the movie thanks to the frightening yet endearing portrayal of her motherliness.

Accepting The Weird And Woeful

As expected of a reboot movie about a family that considers a dungeon more comfortable than a bedroom, the lessons and themes are focused on topics like “acceptance” and “fitting in”. Now that I think about it, that’s a very meta way of asking the audience to accept this new version of the beloved family. Interesting huh.

Once the premise has been established, the movie branches into two storylines that place emphasis on the development of the family’s children: Wednesday (Chloe Grace Moretz) and Pugsley (Finn Wolfhard). Wednesday desires to explore the new town that has built itself near to the Addams Family mansion while Pugsley has to prepare himself for a coming-of-age family tradition that will result in great shame if he fails to carry it out.

Of course, there’s a villain too. Margaux Needler (Allison Janney) is the interior designer who sets up the aforementioned town that Wednesday wishes to explore. She’s got a Pimp-My-Home style TV show and the season finale will focus on selling the houses she built in the town of Assimilation. Yup, that’s the name of the town. Subtle, I know. With the Addams Family mansion ruining the view, she sets her goal on driving away the Addams.

Both of the children are given ample amounts of screen time which succeeds in letting the viewers get to know them and watch them develop. Only one other major character goes through some form of development in the movie so it’s a bit disappointing that we didn’t see more of the main family members facing some form of conflict that would allow them to grow.

Terrifying Fun For The Family

Despite all the horrible and macabre portrayal of strange endearment between members of The Addams Family, I believe it’s perfectly suitable for parents to watch with their children.

The lessons centering on the value of acceptance may not exactly be relayed in the most effective way. However, it will still serve as a good topic of discussion with kids, especially when focusing on the idea that everyone is different in their own ways and those differences should be welcomed. Even if the difference is that the other kid carries around a crossbow.

FINAL SCORE: 70/100