The eccentrically macabre family moves to a bland suburb where Wednesday Addams' friendship with the daughter of a hostile and conformist local reality show host exacerbates conflict between the families.
Hey, look! It's another unnecessary remake of an existing intellectual property that has been diluted to appeal to a new (and more importantly younger) target audience. That's pretty much a TL;DR review right there.
The film has an amazing amount of talent locked into its voice cast, features the likes of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Snoop Dogg, Bette Midler, and Allison Janney. When you look at those names, it almost makes you wish that they made another live-action film with this cast, rather than an animated "feature film". I say "feature film" because there is something that doesn't feel like cinematic quality. This iteration of The Addams Family plays off like three episodes of an animated TV show that have been merged together.
As far as the general personalities and quirks of the Addams Family members, they are captured well; Wednesday's monotone delivery and torment of Pugsley, Gomez's cheerful nature and infatuation with Morticia, there are a number of personality quirks that feel in line with what the family have previously been set up as. At the same time, it is much less effective due to the animation style playing down the danger level of events on screen. Electrocutions look like tickles, arrows through the head barely require a mention, and explosions lack any form of impact.
The dark gallows humour is still present but is toned down to appeal to the younger audience, and as a result, we lose much of what makes the Addams Family appealing. Simply put, this family represents the opposite of conforming with society, but it is not just about physical appearance. The family's non-conformance follows through in their love of all things dark, gloomy, and morbid, and their acceptance of all types of people, with no regard for other people's opinions of them. It is these non-physical attributes that this latest iteration doesn't manage to execute well, and as a result, the main hook for the film is missing.
The story is (if we are being nice) forgettable. It shows the audience a scenario in the opening scenes and then fails to provide anything different for the remainder of the runtime. It simply retreads its own story again, at a slower pace, with a few more characters involved. The plot has many parallels to the similar monster family film, Hotel Transylvania, which managed to execute itself far better, with engaging characters, an interesting story, and good humour. The Addams Family has good characters, but the script gives them nothing interesting to do. Of the three story arcs, Wednesday has the most intriguing sequences but makes questionable character decisions that do not feel organic. Pugsley's arc is so thinly covered that the audience frequently forgets its existence.
The humour is inconsistent. It attempts to appeal to more mature audiences, while still giving the empty physical humour that the younger children would enjoy, but the combination of the two (with a lot of forced conflict and drama) mean there are long periods of time where nobody in the theatre is laughing. An animated comedy with a bland plot and debatable comedic elements? Definitely forgettable.
The animation style is okay when you look at the main family of characters. The designs hark back to the source material and have good levels of detail, as well as the home environment, which is well designed. Everything else, on the other hand, looks so cheaply animated. It is expected that it will oppose the style of the Addams Family, but it is so basic, with low levels of detail, and block colours, that is reminiscent of Nickelodeon's Jimmy Neutron (which only ran from 2002-2006) and would fit better in an Illumination film (think Minions).
All being said, there are some good gags. A few nice short sequences here and there that get a giggle out of the audience, and remind us of the Addams Family that we all grew up with. It looks adequate, and while the plot is bland and easy to follow, the pacing will likely bore the younger audience that the film is aiming to target. They aren't creepy, kooky, mysterious, or spooky, nor all together ooky. This Addams Family remake may spur its own TV series, but for a feature film, the script doesn't really spend enough time focused on the family. Stick to Hotel Transylvania.