I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan of The Addams Family, but I am a causal one. When I heard they were making an animated film based on everyone’s favorite macabre family I was somewhat excited. The last I saw anything associated with The Addams Family was the Broadway adaptation several years ago and to this day I still have fond memories of that event. Will the 2019 animated version have lingering effects of nostalgia of the Broadway show? As always let’s find out.

In this 2019 version of The Addams Family, we follow Gomez and Morticia Addams (Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron) as newlyweds trying to figure out where they can settle and raise a family due to society not excepting them of their ways. Fortunately for them they discover an abandoned haunted house on top of a hill where for the next thirteen years they live in isolation with their children Wednesday and Pugsley (Chloë Grace Moretz and Finn Wolfhard). One day the family discovers and visits a nearby town where everyone is considered the same and from that point on the movie focuses on worlds colliding.

I won’t beat around the bush for this one: I felt very mixed about this film. I wish I didn’t have to say those words but I can’t sugarcoat what I saw, though I’ll start off positive.

One of the things that I really appreciated with this take on The Addams Family was the family itself. The antics and shenanigans that most people are familiar with are present here in humorous ways that you don’t often see much anymore in animated films. As I stated earlier, I’m just a casual fan but I did take notice that the filmmakers were obviously huge fans as well as they paid close attention to detail with their personalities. This shows in the animation that a lot of people will admire. In addition to the animation, I have to give praise to the voice cast as their voices blended really well with the characters, so well that I almost forgot that Oscar Isaac (he plays Poe Dameron in the new Star Wars films) was voicing Gomez Adams, and when you’re able to pull that off you get extra points from me.

Ephesians 5:25 states “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,” and Gomez Addams not only shows that for his wife Morticia, but also for his family and that’s something we need more in animated films these days, in my humble opinion.

Like I said I wish I had liked it a lot more, but what brought me down was everything not associated with The Addams Family. What I mean by that is during my description of the film I mentioned a nearby town that the Addams family visits and that’s where the problems start. The animation was bright and colorful which contrasts the the Addams establishment and it was tough to watch because that bright animation looked cheap and uninspiring. I know this may sound like I’m nitpicking, but after watching Toy Story and Abominable, I kind of hold CGI animated films these days to a higher standard. Another thing that made this unpleasant was the plot itself. The antagonist wants to use the towns people to drive away the Addams because of their creepy nature and it’s done in a way that was poorly executed. I didn’t mind it at first but soon it became tired to the point where was just sitting there waiting for it to be over.

I really wish I could strongly recommend this film, but the bad plot and mediocre animation was jarring to where I couldn’t look past it. If you’re really curious about this film I’d recommend streaming it down the road but for right now just wait a week for Zombieland: Double Tap if you want to see something in theaters to get in the Halloween spirit.