The Addams Family - Film Series Retrospective

There are a lot of ways that one could describe the characters who are the focus of today’s retrospective. Some might call them “creepy” and “kooky”. Others might say they’re “mysterious” and “spooky”. And yet, most would agree that “they’re altogether ooky”. Yes, folks, today we’re celebrating the classic franchise that is The Addams Family. It all began in 1938 when cartoonist Charles Addams first published a series of cartoons for The New Yorker which introduced audiences to the titular family of Morticia, Gomez, Wednesday, Pugsley, Uncle Fester, Grandmama, Thing, Lurch the butler, and Cousin Itt. The cartoons served as a satire of the all-American family by having the Addams Family fully embrace their macabre lifestyle without any regard for those who find their antics disturbing. Suffice it to say, they were a huge hit, resulting in the characters transitioning into other forms of media. Arguably their most famous spin-off is the classic TV series starring Carolyn Jones and John Astin as Morticia and Gomez that ran from 1964 to 1966. Aside from that, there were also a few animated series made by Hanna-Barbera (with one of them notably featuring a then 11-year-old Jodie Foster as Pugsley) and more recent works such as a Broadway musical in 2010. But for the purpose of today’s retrospective, we’ll be focusing on the characters’ appearances in feature films which, since the ’90s, have primarily consisted of two major cinematic incarnations. First, there’s the 1991 live-action adaptation that was followed by a sequel in 1993, resulting in a pair of films that have very much become staples of the Halloween programming blocks for networks like Freeform. Then, there’s the franchise’s recent animated outing that came out last year and is set to get a sequel sometime next year (you know, unless COVID-19 subjects it to the same issues that have plagued countless other upcoming releases). And so, without further ado, prepare to snap your fingers to Vic Mizzy’s iconic theme song as we look at the Addams Family films.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (1991)

We begin with the first live-action film adaptation of The Addams Family, which was released in 1991 and was directed by Barry Sonnenfeld. Before he went on to direct films like the original Men in Black trilogy, this film served as his directorial debut after starting out in the industry as a cinematographer on many of the Coen brothers’ early films like Blood Simple and Raising Arizona and other classics such as Big and Misery. Unfortunately for him, though, the film’s production was consistently plagued with problems such as health issues for multiple members of the cast and crew, a change in cinematographers that even forced Sonnenfeld to step in and do it himself for a stretch of time and, most infamously, a change in the distributor. Originally handled by Orion Pictures, the studio ended up selling the film to Paramount out of fear that it would be another commercial flop for them at a time when they were struggling financially (sure enough, they would ultimately end up filing for bankruptcy that year). But upon its release, the film did quite well at the box-office as it grossed over $191 million worldwide on its relatively modest $30 million budget, and while its overall critical reception was mixed at best, it’s clear that it managed to be a hit with audiences and it’s easy to see why. Overall, the film does a great job of capturing the madcap atmosphere of the original show and the delightfully dark and twisted visual style of Charles Addams’ original cartoons right down to some spot-on recreations of key moments from the latter. Plus, it’s all bolstered by an excellent ensemble headlined by Raul Julia, who is delightfully theatrical as Gomez, and Angelica Huston, who’s a practically pitch-perfect fit for the role of Morticia. This makes up for what is easily the film’s biggest shortcoming in that anything that doesn’t directly involve the Addams family (namely, everything regarding the main antagonist, a loan shark who tries to disguise her adopted son as  the long-lost Uncle Fester to steal the Addams’ fortune) is a lot weaker by comparison. Ultimately, though, the film still manages to be a solidly entertaining (albeit far from perfect) romp that, at the end of the day, ends up being one of the better adaptations of an old television sitcom from the ’60s, a subgenre that notably trended in the ’90s as evident from other TV-to-film adaptations such as The Flintstones, The Beverly Hillbillies, and Dennis the Menace.

Rating: 3.5/5

ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES (1993)

Fueled by the first film’s success at the box-office, Paramount quickly developed a sequel, Addams Family Values, which hit theaters in 1993 and saw the return of both director Barry Sonnenfeld and most of the main cast from the previous film (save for Judith Malina, who was replaced in the role of Grandmama by Carol Kane). The film also took on a much different tone compared to its predecessor as it was more reliant on its macabre humor rather than its efforts to replicate the zany antics of the TV series, which is ultimately the catalyst behind it being one of the rare cases of a genuinely superior sequel. Yes, thanks to this pivotal change in direction, Family Values is a lot more consistent with its humor and, really, is just a better-made film, for the most part. Much of this has to do with it having a far superior villain than its predecessor thanks to Joan Cusack’s delightfully campy turn as Debbie, a gold-digging femme fatale who marries Uncle Fester with the intent of killing him to collect the inheritance. The only real downside, though, is that, because the film is largely focused on Fester and Debbie’s relationship, it results in Raul Julia and Angelica Huston not getting as much to do this time around as Gomez and Morticia. But at the very least, the film makes up for this by simultaneously giving Christina Ricci a larger role as the precociously cynical Wednesday. Ricci had already made a great impression in the role back in the first film, but thanks to this film’s subplot in which Wednesday and Pugsley are sent away to an overly chipper summer camp and, naturally, cause a whole bunch of chaos there, she’s far and away its biggest standout. With all this in mind, I can safely say that if you were among those who found to be the first live-action Addams Family film to be a bit underwhelming, I believe that you’ll probably get a lot more out of this one. It truly is a great example of a sequel that managed to improve upon its predecessor in almost every possible way and I wouldn’t be surprised if this was the film that was largely responsible for the positive reputation that this duology has maintained over the years.

Rating: 4.5/5

THE ADDAMS FAMILY (2019)

And finally, we cut to nearly three decades later when the Addams Family made their return to the big screen in a new animated feature, which served as the second outing for the directing duo of Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan after the smash hit that was 2016’s Sausage Party. Obviously, these two films are quite different from each other when it comes to both their target audiences and their overall sense of humor, but in this case, Vernon and Tiernan do manage to maintain much of the consistent humor that we saw from Sausage Party. Yes, there are quite a lot of modern references (as is admittedly the case with a lot of modern adaptations of older bits of source material), but for the most part, they don’t completely overtake the film to the point where they overshadow anything that made this franchise so popular in the first place. In other words, this new film does just as great of a job as the live-action films did when it comes to capturing the zany and macabre nature of the titular family, especially when it comes to its overall visual style. While there was some… to be perfectly blunt, rather hyperbolic backlash towards the Addams family’s character designs (which seemingly only stemmed from most folks’ fondness for the live-action films), these designs brilliantly match the look of Charles Addams’ original cartoons. And just like the live-action films, they’re brought to life by a terrific ensemble, from Oscar Isaac and Charlize Theron as Gomez and Morticia to Chloe Grace Moretz and Finn Wolfhard as Wednesday and Pugsley. Really, the only ‘negative’ thing that I can say about this film is that the main plot is your standard ‘fish out of water’ story with some blatantly obvious payoffs. Despite this, though, this new take on The Addams Family does manage to be a solidly entertaining family flick, and while I didn’t end up seeing this when it first came out exactly one year ago, I’m certainly interested in seeing what will come from next year’s sequel.

Rating: 4/5

*Snap Snap*

Back to the Future Trilogy (1985-1990) review (350th Post!!)

In order to commemorate Rhode Island Movie Corner’s 350^th official blog post, I decided to finally tackle a series that I’ve been longing to cover for a long time. That series in question is quite frankly my favorite film trilogy of all-time, which as you might have guessed spawned my #1 favorite film of all-time period. I’m of course talking about Robert Zemeckis’ ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy. I remember the first time I ever watched these films back in 2004. My parents had bought the trilogy on DVD and we watched the first two films one night and then the third and final film the following evening. Despite having never heard about the films before that moment, I was immediately hooked to them and around the time I started my senior year of high school, I realized that the first film truly was my favorite film of all-time. It’s hard to identify a single film as your all-time favorite but for me there was clearly no other choice. So today, I’m finally honoring these three classics of the sci-fi genre; the original masterpiece from 1985, its more effects-heavy and somewhat darker 1989 sequel, and the sometimes ignored 1990 finale. For the record, I won’t be covering the ‘Back to the Future’ animated series that ran from 1991 to 1992 due to time constraints but I may do another post specifically for that show in the future (no pun intended). But for now, it’s time to start up your DeLorean and go back in time with me as I delve into the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy.

BACK TO THE FUTURE (1985)

So yeah… ‘Back to the Future’ is my favorite film of all time, no doubt about it. While I’ll admit that it wasn’t until a few years ago that I finally came to this conclusion, ultimately that’s beside the point because I absolutely adore this film. Why is it my favorite, you ask? Well having re-watched this film numerous times over the past decade, as I’m sure many of you have done as well, I think the main reason why this film is so great is because it’s more than just a ‘sci-fi’ film. Sure its premise of a teenager in 1985 accidentally going back in time to 1955 via a DeLorean time machine, where he ends up interfering with his parents falling in love which results in him nearly being erased from existence, is definitely rooted in the sci-fi genre. But this film goes beyond the standards of the genre by basically combining multiple genres into one. It’s got action, it’s got drama, it’s got romance, and it’s got humor. It’s one of those rare films that is legitimately a complete package, meaning that you don’t have to be a big sci-fi fan to enjoy this film. And of course, this is easily one of the most quotable films of all-time thanks to how well-written Zemeckis and Bob Gale’s script is and how well the cast work off each other. All of this I feel makes this film so timeless. Sure it was made over 30 years ago but it’s aged in just the right ways.

Robert Zemeckis’ direction is superb, effectively finding the right balance of serious drama and light-hearted humor. The film has one of the best soundtracks of all-time, highlighted by Alan Silvestri’s grand score and the two classic songs by Huey Lewis and the News, ‘The Power of Love’ and ‘Back in Time’. Casting is pitch-perfect all around, highlighted by the brilliant duo of Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd as Marty McFly and Doc Brown. Fox’s charisma and Lloyd’s straight-faced turn as the admittedly very eccentric Doc results in a great camaraderie between the two. But of course we can’t forget about the other members of this great cast; Lea Thompson as Marty’s mother Lorraine, who ends up getting ‘the hots for him’ when they cross paths in 1955 (which of course on paper sounds incredibly awkward but is handled perfectly here), Crispin Glover as Marty’s father George, who ‘becomes a man’ over the course of the film, and Tom Wilson as one of cinema’s greatest ‘bullies’, Biff Tannen. Seriously, I can go on and on about how this film is a cinematic masterpiece but let’s be honest, you all know that already. I’ve seen this film so many times that it’s practically engrained in my mind; I pretty much know it inside and out. And quite simply that is why this film is, and always will be, my favorite film of all-time.

Rating: 5/5! (Obviously)

“Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (1989)

‘Back to the Future Part II’ does exactly what any good sequel does; it continues the story and takes the series in a new direction while still managing to maintain just enough similarities to the first film without being a ‘carbon copy’ of it. And like another famous sequel, ‘The Empire Strikes Back’, this film even takes the series in a few darker directions. Like how about a plot in which Biff Tannen, in the year 2015, acquires a sports almanac, steals the DeLorean, goes back to 1955, and gives the almanac to his younger self so that he could become rich, resulting in a messed-up alternate reality 1985. As a result, Doc and Marty now find themselves having to go back to 1955 in order to steal the almanac from young Biff. I really liked how this film decided to go back to 1955 and revisit sequences from the first film but from different angles. This whole part of the film, and a sequence in the future in which Michael J. Fox portrays three separate characters at once; older Marty, young Marty Jr., and yes even his daughter Marlene, required the use of digital compositing and a new camera operating system, Vistaglide, which allowed actors to seamlessly play more than one part at once onscreen while the camera was able to move around. In fact, this film has quite a lot more visual effects in it compared to both the first and third films, which is understandable given that a good chunk of it takes place in the future.

I actually have to admit that ‘Back to the Future Part II’ is my least favorite installment of the series. Though at the end of the day, this is mostly due to personal preferences and the fact that this is arguably the one entry in the series that I’ve seen the least amount of times, due to my original DVD copy of the film getting a bit scratched up. Thankfully in recent years I’ve definitely warmed up to the film a lot more, though it’s still my least favorite of the trilogy. That’s not to hold anything against it, though, as it’s still just as enjoyable as the first film. The characters are still as great as they’ve ever been, the cast is once again terrific, and the production design is excellent through all of the different time periods visited in the film; 1955, the alternate screwed-up 1985, and the futuristic 2015. But wait a minute, some of you might say, aren’t we now in 2015? Yeah it’s become a bit of a running joke on the internet to discuss how accurate this film was in predicting what 2015 would be like and obviously not every piece of technology featured in this film is real (yet), like flying cars or self-drying jackets. Though with that said, there actually were some things that the film sort of got right, like hands-free gaming (Kinect) and video chat (Skype), which is quite impressive considering that this film was made around 25 years ago. Though with that said, I must ask… where are our damn hoverboards? Well, anyway, ‘Back to the Future Part II’ is a solid follow-up to one of the greatest films ever made. Is it as good as the original? No, but obviously that’s one hell of a tough act to follow. But ultimately it’s still a damn entertaining continuation of this great franchise.

Rating: 4.5/5

“Doc… what if we don’t succeed?” “We must succeed.”

BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III (1990)

While nowadays the practice of shooting films back-to-back is fairly common (e.g. ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Harry Potter’), it was a rarity at the time that the ‘Back to the Future’ franchise filmed Parts II and III back to back. Originally, the plot of Part III was meant to be combined with Part II for just one sequel, but this idea was scrapped due to the fact that it would’ve just been too much for one film. Heck, even after this decision was made, many still considered Part II to be overstuffed. But anyway, ‘Back to the Future Part III’ was released in May of 1990, just half a year after Part II was released in November 1989. From what I’ve seen online, Part III is apparently considered to be the ‘black sheep’ of the franchise. It seems like the biggest reason for this is due to the fact that the film takes place in the year 1885 in the Old West, which apparently some thought was a bit out of place for a ‘Back to the Future’ film. But as for me, this was actually my personal favorite of the series for quite a few years up until I came to the aforementioned ‘the first BTTF film is my favorite film of all-time’ conclusion. But while this may no longer be my favorite entry in the series, it’s definitely one of the prime examples of a film that isn’t as bad as everyone says it is. Contrary to popular opinion, I absolutely love that this film was set in the Old West, which results in some highly entertaining set pieces. This includes what may just be my favorite climax of the entire series in which Doc and Marty push the DeLorean up to 88 MPH, due to the fact that Marty accidentally end up tearing the fuel line when he first arrived in 1885, with a train.

Another major addition that may have had something to do with this film’s weaker reception is the character of Clara Clayton, who Doc falls in love with after saving her from falling into a ravine. But like how I’m totally fine with the film’s Western setting, I also didn’t mind Clara at all. I thought that it was actually rather cool to see, of all people, Doc fall in love and the romance between the two is really sweet. It’s also cool to see Doc and Marty basically switch roles as a result, with Doc becoming the young soul in love and Marty having to be the ‘straight man’ in the situation. There’s even one moment in which the two say each other’s lines, ‘Great Scott!’ and ‘This is heavy!’ Like the previous two films, the sequences involving Doc and Marty are the heart of the film. Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd’s camaraderie is as great as it’s ever been. And for the final film in this trilogy, it ends on such a terrific note. I cannot even begin to tell you how much satisfaction I got from seeing Doc return to 1985 in his new time-travelling train and flying away to travel through time in a shot reminiscent of the classic final shot from the first film. All in all, I guess you can say that ‘Back to the Future Part III’ is one of the most underrated films of all-time. I mean part of me legitimately doesn’t get what people don’t like about this film, aside from the aforementioned Wild West setting and the addition of Doc’s new love interest Clara. I think this film is just as great as the first two and a highly satisfying finale to one of the best film trilogies of all-time.  

Rating: 4.5/5

“Your future is whatever you make it. So make it a good one, both of you.”