Raul Julia had passed away in 1994 and for many he was and still is Gomez. There had been rumors of a third Addams Family movie rumbling but without Julia, it wouldn’t feel the same. Skip four years to 1998 and we get another reboot of the spooky family. Two rather as Joe Ramoni of Hats Off Entertainment explains better than I can, the movie rights and the tv rights for The Addams Family at this me were held by different companies which is how we ended up with two different takes. As I’ve stated throughout I am mostly focusing on the movie villains for this event.
Saban who we all know for Power Rangers released this Addams Family movie in 1998 and it was meant to serve as a pilot for a series that never came. I have stated that it is my personal belief that The Addams Family works best when there is a bit of an edge This movie doesn’t have that as it is aimed squarely at children.
That’s a choice sure that can work and I did mention that my introduction to them was the 90’s cartoon which was meant for children but this felt even more aimed at kids than that show. Also, it doesn’t help that this movie is straight up boring. One thing an Addams Family movie should never be is boring. The only saving grace of this movie is Tim Curry as Gomez.
This movie is bad, I’m sorry. I don’t like being negative towards movies I’m looking at but without that edge, you lose a lot.
First Appearance
We first meet Dr. Adams at a reunion or the Addams family, not the Addams Family. There’s a mix-up as Gomez’s grandparents are suffering from a from of Alzheimer’s that is turning them normal so Gomez believes being around others Addams’s will fix them. Honestly, this subplot is quickly brushed aside to instead focus mostly on gags that aren’t all that funny.
How did this mix-up happen? Gomez signed the invite in blood and the agency putting things together got things mixed up with this faux pas.
Personality
Dr. Adams is someone who believes he is smarter and better tan everyone. He’s one of those types that believes he is constantly beleaguered by other people with just interacting with them. In many ways, it’s akin to SpongeBob and Squidward with Dr. Adams filling the latter role. Gomez is trying to engage with someone he believes is his relative and someone that can help to save his family members who are suffering.
Grand Desire
He’s money hungry, he wants his father’s inheritance. That’s it, there’s nothing to it. Granted, Gomez makes this harder as he shows the old man an actual good time whereas his real family treats him like a frail old man who can’t make any decisions. I think at one point Dr. Adams tried to poison his father but I can’t be one-hundred percent certain.
Most Evil Deed
Yeah, I got nothing here. He doesn’t even break the family is broken up when the police arrive at the resort as things run amok where Gomez and Morticia are arrested and Pugsley and Wednesday are taken by CPS and Fester is given to Dr. Adams under his care. I haven’t brought up what type of doctor he is as he is a psychiatrist. He takes Fester back to his workplace where he puts Fester into an electric chair and tries to fry him. But Fester being Fester enjoys it and keeps asking for more.
Demise
The doctor’s father bails the lovebirds out of jail and they go and pick up the kids and get Fester. The last we see of Dr. Adams is him being ur into the electric chair that he had used on so many of his patients as Fester handed the controls over to them thinking they’re an ace team not realizing they were patients. It’s a good comeuppance for the doctor but it’s really the only good thing.
Is Dr. Phillip Adams a Good Villain?
No. The problem with this character like much of the rest of the movie is it’s both too safe and has been declawed. I know I said this is aimed squarely at children and that is true but if we look at the franchise that Saban is best known for, Power Rangers has a few villains that can serve as a real threat. Yes, Power Rangers is an action series while The Addams Family is a comedy series but even if we look at the two previous movies that came before this, those being black comedies, they had villains that were real threats while still working as a comedy. We will see this again in two entries when looking at one of two animated villains for this series. Well next time, we jump to 2019 to look at our first animated villains for this series. As I look at
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