Impossible to watch without being aware of the great talent that was snuffed out, but may we all leave such an indelible impression. #RIPLee
Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Crow:
When a tragedy precedes the release of a film, it’s hard to avoid becoming maudlin about it or lifting the work onto a pedestal. So it’s important to not canonize the late Brandon Lee or consecrate The Crow. It’s a good movie, not a great movie. That doesn’t mean I don’t love it – I do. But let’s keep our heads about this – it’s a very mixed bag.
The simple fact of the matter – the non-revisionist truth – is that I’d never even heard of Brandon Lee before he died. I guess one of my friends who watched martial arts movies might have mentioned him at some point, but my love of martial arts movies doesn’t extend beyond Big Trouble in Little China, so I would never have seen him in anything. And he wasn’t particularly famous or heralded for his acting. So is the legendary status bestowed on him and the film simply because of his tragic death at age 28? Absolutely not. This is a breakout performance far above anything he’d even hinted at previously, making the accident even more heartbreaking.
The Crow is based on a black & white graphic novel of the same name by James O’Barr. It’s a grim book, and I’m guessing the idea of adapting it into a feature film wasn’t an easy sell.
[schema type=”movie” name=”The Crow” description=”A man brutally murdered comes back to life as an undead avenger of his and his fiancée’s murder.” director=”Alex Proyas” actor_1=”Brandon Lee” ]
Less of a fully realized picture than a series of gags, there’s nothing particularly wrong with this one – it just lacks any real purpose…
Spoiler-free Movie Review of Addams Family Values:
It’s fine. Really, it is. It’s not bad. It just isn’t really good, either.
The first Addams Family film was really well done and made a boatload of money, so of course there was going to be a sequel. They even set it up at the end of the first picture with the tease that Morticia (Anjelica Huston) was pregnant. So the new movie was certain to be about the Addams baby. That storyline is ok, even if it doesn’t have much stamina.
No, the problem, if there is one is in the sameness of the script. Writer Paul Rudnick did extensive rewrites on the original before taking over sole credit on this picture, and the whole thing just seems a little too familiar. The plot once again revolves around Fester (Christopher Lloyd) and the family is once again separated from him by manipulative outside forces. It’s just kind of lazy.
I suppose another way to look at it is Addams 2.0, taking all the things that went right in the first film and honing them further. And if that was a tv program that would be fine. I guess I just hoped for more.
There is a fantastic subplot about the kids being sent to a summer camp for privileged kids that very nearly makes the entire film worthwhile. Wednesday (Christina Ricci) takes center stage, which is entirely correct, and the cast of campers includes David Krumholtz, Christine Baranski & Peter MacNicol – all wonderful here. The musical production is enough fun to make you forget how lifeless the rest of the picture is.
Definitely worth a watch, Addams Family Values was a bit of a disappointment to me, in no small part due to the fact that so many critics insisted that the sequel was superior to the original. Nonsense…
[schema type=”movie” name=”Addams Family Values” description=”A comical Gothic horror-movie-type family tries to rescue their beloved uncle from his gold-digging new love.” director=”Barry Sonnenfeld” actor_1=”Anjelica Huston” actor_2=”Raul Julia” actor_3=”Christopher Lloyd”]
Wonderful realization of Charles Addams characters with near perfect casting in Sonnenfeld’s directorial debut. Creepy. Kooky. Spooky. Ooky.
Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Addams Family:
My dad had this old book of Charles Addams’ illustrations. As I recall, the book looked like a third-hand copy from someone who possibly had three hands, all of them clumsy. It was tattered, with a damaged binding and smelled old. To this day I don’t know if it was actually supposed to be like this or was just a poorly cared for yard sale prize. Either would be fitting, because The Addams Family has always felt like some bizarre foundling, while simultaneously being the product of the well-established studio system.
Addams, a cartoonist (often for The New Yorker), based his most famous creations on the old mansions in his childhood home of Westfield, New Jersey and that such a morbid bunch of cartoons should become so popular is a testament to his unique talent. I may never fully understand why television executives thought “hey, this would make a great family tv show”, but I’m glad they did.
In fact, not only did the characters make for a tv show, they made for several, including an animated series, guest appearances on shows as subversive as Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones, as well as having a comeback or two. I guess with that track record that a feature film was inevitable and not as odd as it would be if you pitched the idea today. I strongly doubt that even Tim Burton (originally tapped to direct this film) could walk into a major studio with an idea about a gruesome & possibly supernatural family of arguable sadists and leave with a contract.
Fortunately, in the late 1980’s producer Scott Rudin was able to get a greenlight for The Addams Family from Orion Pictures based on the show’s lasting appeal. Paramount would end up releasing the picture due to Orion’s money problems, but it’s unclear exactly who is to blame for the inclusion of music by MC Hammer…
I wasn’t able to find out why Burton ended up not directing (Batman Returns conflict? Just a guess.) but it left the door open for the incredibly talented cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, who made his directorial debut here. His work with filmmakers like the Coen brothers surely provided the experience in making a quirky and dark comedy, but he really takes embraces it here with a fun-loving style that would go on to serve him well in films like Get Shorty & Men In Black. Sonnenfeld was an outstanding DP and even retained that role (if not the title) on The Addams Family when his first two cinematographers left the project. It shows – the irreverent camera work is one of the best features of the film.
Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) & Larry Wilson (Beetlejuice) put together a nice script that preserves the spirit of the show and the cartoons. It really is surprisingly faithful. Enough so that there was a bit of a problem with rights, as the filmmakers had obtained clearances from the Addams estate but not the show directly; the show’s executive producer, David Levy sued for compensation for his ideas from the tv program.
The casting is one of those perfect ensembles that you’re lucky to get once in a blue moon. Raul Julia inhabits Gomez Addams with all the humor that tv actor John Astin once displayed, but with twice the passion. Anjelica Huston absolutely is Morticia, and Christopher Lloyd energetically portrays Uncle Fester. And of course, young Christina Ricci makes Wednesday the most enjoyable character of all.
The plot is fairly good, as far as it goes, providing the characters with something to do while getting on with the real business of being creepy, kooky, mysterious & spooky. Recommended…
[schema type=”movie” name=”The Addams Family” description=”Con artists plan to fleece the eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long lost Uncle Fester.” director=”Barry Sonnenfeld” actor_1=”Anjelica Huston” ]
