The sequel to 2019's animated Addams Family feature is an on-the-road exploit. As with such follow-ups as Munster Go Home!, La Cage aux Folles II and Are You Being Served? (yep, there is in fact a movie version, folks), this outing inserts Charles Addams' endearing eccentrics on foreign turf, just to see how they bounce.
The results of such fish-out-of-water efforts vary, but The Addams Family 2 (directed by Conrad Vernon, Greg Tiernan, Kevin Provolic, Laura Brouseau; and written by Ben Queen, Dan Hernandez, Benji Samit, Susanna Fogel and Mychael Danna) works darn well, for like its predecessor, the clan may prove off-the-wall, but its members aren't far removed from you and me.
I thought the concept was commendable in the prior entry, where Pugsley had to prove his mettle, but it shines even brighter this time out, as the spry aforementioned, along with Gomez, Morticia, Fester (now with a Lovecraftian twist), Wednesday, Lurch, Itt, Kitty and Thing take a road trip in their kooky RV (while Grandmama remains home to throw a wacky party). Alas, the impulsive journey becomes tainted by a legal claim that Wednesday may have been switched at birth, with a dogged attorney and brutish henchman stalking their meandering trail on behalf of a would-be Dr. Moreau. Their travels includes Niagara Falls, the Grand Canyon, Miami, San Antonio, Death Valley, Sausalito and Sleepy Hollow.
At each stop, they meet diverse people, some nice and some not so (in particular the vapid gals Pugsley dares to impress). The Addams' exchanges with these individuals remind us that we're all spiritual brothers and sisters in the end: our nation's shared strand.
Addams Family 2 isn't Kerouac, but its humble heart presents the same, salty exploration: a colorful trek that can make one giggle (Lurch's rendition of "I Will Survive" in a biker bar is a genuine hoot) and at the same time demonstrate that tolerance can stem from any corner of win-or-lose life. That's a lesson folks these days should embrace. Let's hope some of the closed-minded who pretend to be open-minded give this one a spin. Maybe, just maybe, its honorable message will resonate.
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