Those endearing ghouls created by Charles Addams in his 1930s cartoons for The New Yorker magazine inspire yet another big-screen adaptation, an animated film directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan. Gomez (voice of Oscar Isaac) and his wife, Morticia (voice of Charlize Theron), face parenting issues with both their children, daughter Wednesday (voice of Chloe Grace Moretz) and son Pugsley (voice of Finn Wolfhard). Pugsley struggles to pass a complex sword ritual required of every Addams male when he reaches a certain age while Wednesday ventures into the outside, technicolor world with a new friend (voice of Elsie Fisher), whose mother (voice of Allison Janney) harbors wicked intentions toward the clan. Despite some impressive animation and a worthy, if predictable, lesson in diversity and the need to respect others, the film is bland, dreary and unfunny. Attempts at dark humor involving deadly weapons precludes endorsement for the youngest viewers.
Watch out for: Macabre and suggestive jokes, non-perilous action sequences.
Rated: A-II, adults and adolescents; MPAA: PG
