Die Addams Family 2 (The Addams Family 2)
U.S.A./Canada 2021

Opening 18 Nov 2021

Directed by: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon, Laura Brousseau, Kevin Pavlovic
Writing credits: Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Ben Queen, Susanna Fogel, Charles Addams
Principal actors: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Javon Wanna Walton, Nick Kroll

Young Wednesday Addams is disappointed in a science fair competition, where everyone wins. She says, “How can there be a winner if there are no losers?” On the verge of adolescence, she often stands in opposition. Her father Gomez will solve the problem with a family vacation. He loads up mama Morticia, daughter Wednesday, her younger brother Pugsley, and Uncle Festus, as well as butler Lurch. Grandma stays at home, in charge of their haunted house. They take off to Niagara Falls, Miami, San Antonio and the Alamo, Sausalito, Death Valley and more. Cousin It pops up for a short visit, to be picked up later in style by an airplane. At the same time, they are followed by menacing Cyrus Strange, who shares his motorcycle with a huge “guard” named Pongo. Cyrus claims that Wednesday and his daughter Ophelia were swapped in the hospital at birth. He wants to claim his “own” daughter and take her back. Perhaps he’s right; Wednesday doesn’t feel like part of the family, even though her mother Morticia gives her a family heirloom: a magic necklace from her grandmother. She leaves on her own, accompanied by Lurch, to “find the truth.”

Naturally, this story runs wild in all directions, after all it’s the Addams Family. Fat Father Gomez is perhaps the most normal person in the group. Morticia is tall, skinny, and vampirish, sliding on fins. Pugsley has magical talents. Uncle Festus is slowly becoming an octopus. A single Hand drives the van, and the family pet is a lion. Driving from city to city has its hazards; kids get lost. No problem: “Kids are like socks in the laundry; you have to lose them to find them.”  My favorite scene is when Wednesday, in a dangerous situation, screams, “Lurch, do something with your hands.” He sits down, puts his hands on the piano, plays AND he sings, in spite of never having said one word throughout the film. The first Addams Family film appeared in 2019, based on characters created by Charlie Addams. Born in 1912, Addams regretfully cannot enjoy this newest outcome of his influential creativity, having died in 1988. There is wonderful animation and continuous action. It is often quite scary, morbid, deadly, all supported by 25 songs. I recommend it for the whole family, age nine and older. (Becky Tan)