Brief Story Line
Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega - Scream 2022 etc) was transferred to Nevermore Academy after an incident in her old school. Her parents Morticia (Catherine Zeta-Jones - Chicago etc) and Gomez Addams (Luis Guzmán - Belleville Cop etc) were also students of Nevermore in the past and were able to convince Principal Weems (Gwendoline Christie - The Sandman TV series etc) to accept Wednesday mid semester. Despite her obvious reluctance, Wednesday had no choice but to accept her parents' decision and was placed in a dormitory together with the werewolf Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) who was her total opposite.
With her characteristics, Wednesday had trouble fitting in with other students such as the siren Bianca (Joy Sunday), the vampire Yoko (Naomi J. Ogawa), the gorgon Ajax (Georgie Farmer) and the broody Xavier Thorpe (Percy Hynes White - The Gifted TV series etc). But one of the teachers Ms. Thornhill (Christina Ricci - The Matrix Resurrections etc) did notice of her potential and tried to ensure her well being. Wednesday also had to visit Dr. Valerie Kinbott (Riki Lindhome - Duncanville TV series etc) on regular basis for psychiatric evaluation. Shortly after her joining Nevermore, Wednesday was caught in the middle of a mystery that threatened the academy. With the help from a normal boy named Tyler Galpin (Hunter Doohan), she tried to investigate the case, even though it put her in the crossfire with his father, Sheriff Galpin (Jamie McShane - Bloodline TV series etc).
So how would Wednesday cope with her new environment as well as solving the mystery that endangered her school? You can find them all in the first season of this series.
End of Brief Story Line
Now I already saw brief scenes of the series in the trailer which made me intrigued. And few minutes after it started, I was already hooked and could not stop watching it because of the character Wednesday Addams who was so spiteful whenever she respond to other people's remarks with an expressionless face which was truly fun to see. Her comments were always so rude, nasty & mean but somehow really suit her character. It was like Jenna Ortega was born to play this role and I think she really nailed it.
Another reason that I was attached to the series was the mystery part. All along I always thought this would be just a comedy show, so the existence of a mystery to be solved was definitely a plus. Not to mention the characters who were of monsters background like werewolves, vampires, sirens and so on. Although the mystery was not that complicated and could be easily deducted/guessed especially once you reached the final 2 episodes, but it was still intriguing and could probably still surprise some audience.
Just like its title suggested, the series focused more on the character Wednesday Addams and not the entire Addams family. In addition to her parents who were in guest roles, there were also her younger brother Pugsley (Isaac Ordonez) and my favorite: Thing (Victor Dorobantu) who had recurring roles. Aside from Jenna Ortega, I think Gwendoline Christie and Christina Ricci were pretty decent in here. Meanwhile the other cast were mainly OK (and I like that the young actors/actresses looked youthful enough as high school students). Oh I also like the character of Eugene who was played by Moosa Mostafa and part of the series regular.
The settings of the Nevermore academy was greatly created and really looked like the place where outcasts went to school. The makeup department also did wonderful job making sure all the Addams family looked like their animated characters. Oh for those who are unaware, The Addams Family was created by Charles Addams and were published in The New Yorker magazine back in the 1930s and has been adapted into multiple live-action and animated series and movies including the 2019 film titled The Addams Family and its sequel.
This series itself was created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar (creators of Smallville, Into the Badlands and writers of Lethal Weapon 4, Shanghai Noon and few others). They were also credited as the producers along with several others including a very familiar name of Tim Burton who directed the first four episodes. I guess it's no wonder the series was very entertaining as Burton was experienced in directing many fantasy movies like Sleepy Hollow, The Night Before Christmas, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children and so on. Of all the 8 episodes, my favorites were episode 5 where the family was given large screen time and episode 7 where Wednesday showed plenty of expressions, with the satisfying season finale. Btw, all the episodes had the word "woe" in its title which was a bit like pun jokes and having duration between 47-59 minutes.
Overall this was a really fun and entertaining series. I really enjoyed watching Wednesday Addams's characterization, the dark humor, the mystery and the interaction between her and the rest of other characters. There were some visual effects which were not extraordinarily amazing but sufficient to give the desired effect and the musical score was very good as well. Wednesday's character development was also very interesting as she very slowly evolved. I really wish the series would be renewed so I could see more of her and friends in the future as the ending suggested there are still lots that could be explored. So if you are interested in watching dark fantasy with strong Tim Burton's influence and if you like the Addams family characters, I am sure you would enjoy this.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4 out of 5 stars
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