HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA

Cole's Rating: ★★★
Thatcher's Rating: ★★★ 1/2

Year: 2012
Cast: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James
Genre: Animation/Comedy/Family
MPAA Rating: PG

It takes a lot to make some people laugh. For some, it only takes a little. For me, it takes Adam Sandler playing Count Dracula in an animated film about monsters. Not only was it absolutely hilarious, it-it-it, y-yes it was absolutely hilarious. Those of you who have seen The Waterboy, another one of Sandler’s gut-busting movies, will understand that joke. Although Sandler’s voice did seal the deal for me, there was more to it. The movie was about Dracula’s daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez), who was turning 118, a milestone (end of youth) in the vampire lifestyle. This year, like every year, he was throwing a party for her in their monster hotel, human-free since 1998. He invited everybody! Frankenstein (voiced by Kevin James), the Invisible Man, Wayne the wolf (voiced by Steve Buscemi), and many more, all ready to party it up, that is until a human, Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg), shows up unexpectedly, zings with Mavis, and ruins the party... For Dracula, who has to have everything go his way, which causes the main conflict in the movie! But everybody else loves him (disguised as a member of the Frankenstein family). The rest, I can’t disclose, I guess you’ll have to see what happens. Being a reader of the original novel, Dracula by Bram Stoker, I found this movie to be slightly derivative. If you come to terms with the fact that it's just a play on its ideas, then I'm sure you'll enjoy it, but I'd personally rather stick to the novel. 

This movie incorporated a few mature, but not inappropriate lessons, which I particularly enjoy to see done in a kid’s film, a few of those being Toy Story, Shrek, and Monsters Inc. Every parent dreads the day that their little girl falls in love, and wants to leave and go explore the world. Well, so does Dracula. Just because he is a vampire, doesn’t mean he’s not a good parent! That’s for certain, I mean he did build the whole hotel and make it secure for her to be protected, for a reason that Dracula keeps internal, which turned out to be  another significant, adult point in the movie. This kid’s movie is one that I recommend to people of all ages, it interests and entertains the adults too.

Bravo to Marcelo Vignali, who helped make Hotel Transylvania come to life. He was the production designer, the Harold in Harold And The Purple Crayon. He was able to apply his lifelong interest in animation to further his career, and create the setting and visual aspect of Hotel Transylvania. In my opinion, he did a great job. However, although it did show multiple places in the castle, I would’ve enjoyed seeing more, being as it was as big as it was, and there was a party going on. Nevertheless, his astounding artistic ability really shows in this movie. The castle eerily reminded me of the original castle with all those secret tunnels and trap doors Shaggy always fell through in the original Scooby Doo, Where Are You! series that aired from 1969-1972. And let me just say that anything that reminds me of that series did a darn good job! 

The humor that was used in this movie was very clever. I found it highly entertaining knowing that Adam Sandler was doing the Dracula voice, and felt that nobody could have done it better, just like Tom Hanks in Toy Story. It did a wonderful job creating the perfect moments for situational amusement. The fact that there are a bunch of monsters playing chicken on each others’ shoulders in a pool of God-knows-what is just hilarious in itself! Let alone the dialogue and things that come of it. Another scene, which was my favorite in the movie, is when three monsters are in the car, and they come across a flock of sheep. Well, Wayne the wolf gobbles em’ up! What I’m trying to convey is that the humor used in here was original and outstanding. 

Hotel Transylvania was a wonderful, hilarious, slightly underdeveloped with display of the hotel (nothing too major), romantic, delightful movie that is a great flick to catch with your family, yet if you're a lover of the book like myself, this may seem like a brain-lulling, derivative kid's movie. But that doesn't mean it isn't enjoyable! And remember, Dracula doesn't say "blah-blah-blah".

Written by Cole Pollyea