"The Addams Family 2" a kookier and ookier sequel for ghouls young and old

The Addams Family 2 (2021)

Looking back at the 2019 computer-animated feature of “The Addams Family,” there was such promise in seeing a family-friendly origin story of Charles Addams’ kooky, spooky, and altogether ooky comic-strip family. Sure, the ensemble in Barry Sonnenfeld’s indelible, sharply witty 1991 and 1993 live-action films could never be improved upon, but there was a second-best voice cast—Charlize Theron and Oscar Isaac as Morticia and Gomez Addams, Chloë Grace Moretz as daughter Wednesday, and Bette Midler as Grandmama—and the whole enterprise came from the “Sausage Party” guys. The results, however, were just fine, cute and mildly offbeat but not terribly inspired. Maybe even a little bland and generic. And those Addamses are anything but bland and generic.

For whatever reason, returning co-directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon manage to get the knowing, lightly ghoulish sense of humor right this time with “The Addams Family 2.” The script for this cheekier sequel is by a quartet of writers, Dan Hernandez & Benj Samit (2019’s “Pokémon Detective Pikachu”) and Ben Queen and Susanna Fogel (2019’s “Booksmart”), and that might somehow prove to be for the better. The plot does take the family out of the comfort of their own home, but it’s buzzing with the kind of macabre humor that makes the Addamses so beloved. 

The Addams family is still living in the New Jersey insane asylum they call home with gothic Feng shui, but as Gomez and Morticia realize their children are growing up so much, they’re in much need of a family-bonding vacation. This is prompted especially when the family shows Wednesday too much attention, showing up at her school’s science fair where she’s merging the DNA of her pet octopus Socrates with the DNA of her endearingly dim Uncle Fester (Nick Kroll). Her brilliance grabs the attention of scientist Cyrus Strange (voice of Bill Hader, sounding like Stanley Tucci), who sees a lot of himself in Wednesday. Before the family hits the road, a pushy lawyer (Wallace Shawn) shows up on behalf of Cyrus Strange to tell Gomez and Morticia that Wednesday was switched at birth. Meanwhile, as Fester is slowly morphing into an H.P. Lovecraftian monster, he’s also coaching nephew Pugsley (Javon “Wanna” Walton, taking over for Finn Wolfhard) on how to talk to girls none too well.

The animation is still appealingly cartoonish and exaggerated—it’s hard not to always giggle at the slinky Morticia practically gliding across the floor in her figure-tight spider dress—and the voice performances are all solid, especially Chloë Grace Moretz, who manages to not replace Christina Ricci but bring the dry wit and put her own spin on the sarcastic, torture-loving Wednesday. Besides the A-plot revolving around Wednesday, the script does give every member of the family some business to do, including severed hand Thing and grunting Frankenstein's Monster-ish butler Lurch. The voice casting of Snoop Dogg as the bewhiskered Cousin It is funny in itself again, even if the gibberish of the character can never be deciphered. It is too bad—and a slight waste of Bette Midler’s talents—that Grandmama has to stay home and hold down the fort; her subplot of throwing a house rager and selling overpriced tickets for singing “talking heads” (not the David Byrne band) doesn’t really go much of anywhere. 

Whereas the first animated incarnation felt too safe, unsure of how morbidly amusing to get, and settled for rushed storytelling and pat moralizing, “The Addams Family 2” is more charmingly twisted with the snap and energy that seemed to be missing two years ago. With more fun puns and sight gags, the smile and chuckle ratio is far higher. A multi-directional road sign in Death Valley will delight horror fans, Wednesday gets to pull a Carrie White on a bunch of perky contestants in the Little Miss Jalapeño Pepper contest in Texas, and an impromptu musical number (with Lurch singing at the piano) in a roadhouse full of bikers, à la “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” is an unexpected hoot. Without reaching these particular heights, “The Addams Family 2” is the next best thing to “The Addams Family Values” for the little ghouls.

Grade: B

United Artists Releasing is releasing “The Addams Family 2” (93 min.) in theaters and On Demand on October 1, 2021.