Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this movie takes the original Addams Family cast to its logical extreme -- and that means more violence (often involving newborn Pubert), more sexual innuendo, worse language and a lot of themes that are just too much for kids. Even so, the dialogue remains extremely witty.
Families who watch this film may want to discuss how they deal with intrusions from outside their family, and discuss a time when each family member maintained his or her values in the face of peer pressure.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Polly M. Robertus
The Addams children's jealousy of new baby Pubert leads to the hiring of an evil nanny with designs on Uncle Fester. When she gets Wednesday and Pugsley sent to a snobbish summer camp and marries Fester, things look grim. Faster-paced and with more adult content than The Addams Family, this is still a funny movie that older kids will enjoy.
Finally, Debby the nanny is exposed, the children get to come home, and Pubert becomes his old Addams self again.
More complex and just as witty as The Addams Family, ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES is also more disturbingly violent and sexually insinuating -- too much so for the youngest ones who might enjoy the first movie.
After the original movie, any other cast would be unthinkable, so it's a relief that the cast is expanded rather than replaced. Joan Cusack is marvellous as a black widow; her character is so hyperactively greedy that she doesn't understand that the family's ghoulishness isn't the same thing as cold-bloodedness. When her schemes to get rid of Fester fail, her plight as his bride adds to the fun for mature viewers.
The addition of Pubert to the family offers a lot of laughs, especially when we learn how much his parents are enjoying Morticia's painful labor. However, a lot of violent action (with too-near misses) involves him, and some parents might feel uncomfortable with it. A 10- and 12-year-old thought it was all quite funny, though.
The scenes at camp are among the movie's cleverest. Youngsters who have felt isolated at camp will identify entirely with Wednesday and Pugsley, two little misfits left in a world of conformist blond snobs. Although the action here occasionally drags, the other campers and the enthusiastic, uncomprehending counselors make great foils for the Addams children's macabre revenge. Again, some parents might find that the humor goes unnecessarily far.
All said, it's a satisfying relief all around when the family members are reunited, and return to their bleakly cozy mansion.
For more of everyone's favorite ghouls, check out the Addams Family Reunion.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentA voluptuous villain has explicit sexual designs on Uncle Fester; seduction and discussions of virginity. |
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ViolenceAgain, much more than in the first movie -- or perhaps it just feels more problematic, since a baby is often the intended victim. |
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LanguageMore than in the first movie- -- frequent mild language. |
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Social BehaviorEveryone's behavior is questionable -- the movie's humor relies on the Addams family's inverted values. But there's no doubt who the real villain is, and the family's macabre goings-on seem cozy compared to the mean-spirited outsiders. |
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