WARNING: This Review May Contain Spoilers
Ok, hands up how many of you heard the theme tune in your head and clicked your fingers as soon as you read the title of this article? Yeah, that’s what I thought. Possibly the weirdest but definitely the coolest family to grace the big screen so I thought I would take the time to look into the characters and story of the two films.
Morticia and Gomes
This is a relationship filled with unconditional, albeit rather dark, love. They live opposite to us, unhappiness is their happiness and the things that would worry a normal relationship bring them closer. They are even the kind of parents that support their children and tell them when they’re going wrong. Ok, this may include swapping the weapons that Wednesday and Pugsley use to go after each other but hey. This doesn’t change in the second film after little Pubert is born, and I love that it worries them more when he starts to turn blonde than being born with a moustache like Gomes’.
Possibly my favourite scene of theirs is actually in the second film when they dance the tango. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend looking it up.
Wednesday and Pugsley
Is it strange that as a child I wanted to be Wednesday? So much so that I dressed up as her one Halloween. No, I will not attached a photo. Unfortunately I don’t have a brother that I could try and put in an electric chair. It is clear that she is the smarter of the two siblings and she’s not afraid to show it. She even has a distaste for people that is extremely relatable, but like every teenager, by the second film she falls in love. Ok, so the relationship doesn’t go anywhere (as far as we know), but there’s a spark of normality in the young girl.
The one thing I will say about these two youngsters is that they try and do what I’m sure there are times all siblings wishes to do, kill each other, but for them it is only a game. Obviously by the second film they have a new baby brother, but nothing changes. They even try to drop the baby from the roof of the house and it doesn’t stop there.
Grandma
It has actually taken a few watchings for me to realise a couple of things about this character. Firstly, I always thought that she was Gomes’ mother but in fact she is the mother of Morticia. Also, they actually changed the actress that plays Grandma by the second film, but it’s not clear why.
Fester
This is an interesting one, as for the majority of the first film Fester isn’t Fester. Until he gets struck by lightning, but I think he was genuinely starting to remember beforehand. I’m never sure why he’s howling at the moon at the start of the second film but I don’t think it’s safe to read too much into the behaviour of most of the family. Sadly in both films Fester is used in order to get hold of the Addams’ fortune.
Thing
Ok, we can’t talk about these two films and not talk about Thing. Just a hand and he still goes out and gets a job when The Addams’ are forced from their home. He even rides a skateboard in the opening of the second film. Well, it’s more of a rollerskate but you get the idea, and if that isn’t cool then I don’t know what is.
The Story as a Whole
If you really get down the bare bones of both the films, they are just a family trying to lead a normal life. The children go to school and are even sent to camp in the second film. Okay, so their normal isn’t exactly everyone’s normal, but who’s to judge?
In Conclusion
Once again, these are two great films and even though they based in such a dark setting, you won’t be able to help but smile. Also, if you want to see a chipper version of the actress that plays Leonard’s mum in The Big Bang Theory then the second film is for you. With such relatable characters, it’s hard to not want to be like them.
