Addams Family Values (1993) ***1/2 [AF BD Double Feature Pt. 2]
There's a sizable subset of fans that prefer 1993's Addams Family Values to its predecessor (my review here). As sequels go, it's quite good, but I still prefer the first film overall, even if I settled on awarding the same star rating to both. I'm not actually certain that I had ever seen this sequel in its entirety before. In any event, if I had, as with the first film, I hadn't seen it since the '90s, so it was fun to revisit.
Barry Sonnenfeld returned to direct and did basically as good a job as he did with 1991's The Addams Family (1991). I don't think Paul Rudnick's screenplay is as good as the first film, relying a bit too much on silly humor that goes for a big laugh rather than a sly smirk (which is more my speed). The cast is excellent once again, given a chance to sink their teeth even further into the characters (Christina Ricci in particular is a delight), though I much prefer Judith Malina as Granny in the first film to Carol Kane. Kane's performance isn't as good, she's not given as much screen time (thankfully), and her makeup isn't great. In fact, there are a few other scenes where the makeup and effects look a bit rushed. Joan Cusack—the other new billing (though not taking over an existing role)—on the other hand, truly shines as the gold digging serial killer hell-bent on murdering Fester for money.
On the production design side of things, Ken Adam, best known for his work on seven James Bond films and with Stanley Kubrick on Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Barry Lyndon (1975) (review), expands (and in some cases improves) on what was established in the first film, but we also spend a lot less time in the Addams' Gothic manor. That seems like a necessary choice to set the film apart and keep things interesting—it works well in some scenes (Wednesday and Pugsley at Camp Chippewa) but not so much in others. There's a cute Rube Goldberg type sequence with the new addition to the family, Pubert, but even that sequence (and the film as a whole) relies a bit too much on wackiness that ends up feeling like an imitation of Beetlejuice (1988) (my review here).
Barry Sonnenfeld returned to direct and did basically as good a job as he did with 1991's The Addams Family (1991). I don't think Paul Rudnick's screenplay is as good as the first film, relying a bit too much on silly humor that goes for a big laugh rather than a sly smirk (which is more my speed). The cast is excellent once again, given a chance to sink their teeth even further into the characters (Christina Ricci in particular is a delight), though I much prefer Judith Malina as Granny in the first film to Carol Kane. Kane's performance isn't as good, she's not given as much screen time (thankfully), and her makeup isn't great. In fact, there are a few other scenes where the makeup and effects look a bit rushed. Joan Cusack—the other new billing (though not taking over an existing role)—on the other hand, truly shines as the gold digging serial killer hell-bent on murdering Fester for money.
On the production design side of things, Ken Adam, best known for his work on seven James Bond films and with Stanley Kubrick on Dr. Strangelove (1964) and Barry Lyndon (1975) (review), expands (and in some cases improves) on what was established in the first film, but we also spend a lot less time in the Addams' Gothic manor. That seems like a necessary choice to set the film apart and keep things interesting—it works well in some scenes (Wednesday and Pugsley at Camp Chippewa) but not so much in others. There's a cute Rube Goldberg type sequence with the new addition to the family, Pubert, but even that sequence (and the film as a whole) relies a bit too much on wackiness that ends up feeling like an imitation of Beetlejuice (1988) (my review here).
Addams Family Values goes for a more laugh out loud approach than its predecessor and some scenes fall flat with jokes that don't land. There are other films like Sam Raimi's Crimewave (1985) that attempt to create a live action cartoon and do a slightly better job at accomplishing it, in my opinion. But I can't deny the charm of the film as a whole and it's a worthy follow-up that serves as an enjoyable second half of a double bill with The Addams Family.
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