Review of Addams Family Values (1993) by Chris W — 04 Nov 2013

The ghoulish Addams clan return for another cinematic go round, and, like many sequels, this one fails to live up to the goods that the first delivered.

Well, I say that, but this one sometimes does a few things better than the first, but in the end still fails to surpass it.

The plot is basically the same as the first one, with a woman using Fester to get to the family fortune, though this one also spends a lot more time with a subplot, with the subplot being the best parts of the movie, and where the main focus should have been.

What we get here is a gold digging serial killers who makes Fester her main target. The subplot sees Wednesday and Pugsley shipped off to a summer camp for privileged kids, and Wednesday having to come into her own as she contends with the reprehensible snobs of the world.

This one isn't a fresh or fun as the first, but it does feature more scenes of the Addams family having to interact with the 'regular' world, especially with the subplot. This leads to many moments of fun commentary and satire, a lot of which works, though a fair amount of it is on the nose.

The stuff with Fester and the gold digging Debbie has its moments, but I think they could have come up with a more inspired plot and a better fitting antagonist. Given how the Addams family are the ultimately idle wealthy who also don't generally fear death, it's a bit tough to find a genuine threat, but I think they could have pulled it off, and just didn't because they felt more comfortable coasting on fumes.

The film is funny, but not as much as the first. The art direction, set design, and all that are still good though, and I liked that almost all of the original main cast returned, and not only that, but that they once again delivered some decent work. Even though I have mixed feelings with her character, I think Joan Cusack did fine as the main antagonist, and Carol Kane is an okay replacement for the late Judith Malina as Grandma Addams.

So yeah, even though this is a step down, it's still an okay film. It could have been a whole lot better, but it also could have been so much worse.