Hotel Transylvania 3:
Summer Vacation ** / *****
Directed by: Genndy Tartakovsky.
Written by: Michael McCullers & Genndy
Tartakovsky based on character created by Todd Durham.
Starring: Adam Sandler (Dracula), Andy
Samberg (Johnny), David Spade (Griffin), Selena Gomez (Mavis), Kathryn Hahn (Ericka
Van Helsing), Steve Buscemi (Wayne), Mel Brooks (Vlad), Fran Drescher (Eunice),
Keegan-Michael Key (Murray), Kevin James (Frank), Molly Shannon (Wanda), Chris
Parnell (Stan the Fishman), Chrissy Teigen (Crystal), Joe Jonas (The Kraken), Genndy
Tartakovsky (Blobby / Baby Blobby), Joe Whyte (Puppy), Aaron LaPlante (Captain
Gremlin / Gremlin Stewardess).
It’s
hard to hate the Hotel Transylvania movies – they are kind of dull, but
innocuous with enough in them to keep them from being painful to sit through,
but not really enough to keep you fully engaged. They are designed for kids to
enjoy – and for there to be just enough in them for their parents that the sit
is not painful to endure. The third film in this franchise is now out, and it
kind of feels like the filmmakers didn’t really have a plot for this one, so they
kind of threw one together on the fly. The background detail and character
design is the best thing about this movie – it’s true of the other movies in
the series as well – but this time out it was only the throwaway details that
really worked for me at all.
The
third film in the franchise finds Dracula (Adam Sandler) lonely and overworked
running his hotel for monsters. His daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez) decides that
what her dad needs is a vacation – so she books him, and all the other popular
characters in the series, on a monster cruise. After the best extended sequence
in the movie (by a long shot) – a flight on “Gremlins Airways” – where the
entire crew is made up of those little guys from the classic Twilight Zone
episode – everyone arrives on the cruise ship – not know the whole thing is an
elaborate trap set by Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan) and his great granddaughter,
Erica (Kathryn Hahn). Complicating things is that Dracula “zings” on Erica –
meaning he falls in love with her at first sight.
The
biggest problem with Hotel Transylvania 3 is that this has always been a series
that is better around the edges than it is at its main plot – and this time,
the main plot pretty much takes up the entire narrative. There really is no
reason for any of the characters who aren’t Dracula to be on the cruise – other
than they are popular, and it is a cruise ship so they need a lot of monsters
around – but we really go through long stretches where we don’t see the other
characters (two of them literally get locked in a closet for almost the entire
film). The film is still at its best around the edges – other than the Gremlins
flying the plane, my favorite moment was a complete throwaway involving the Chupacabra
that is over in about five seconds.
It
is clear that the filmmakers – including director Genndy Tartakovsky – have a
genuine love for the old monster movies, and enjoy bringing them to animated
life. The characters look great here – as they always have. What’s lacking is
really any reason to care about what’s happening in the film. It’s such a dull
story that the film doesn’t even provide much in the way of set pieces to add
some visual excitement – something beyond the design of the characters and the
backdrop to be interesting.
The
film will likely remain popular with its demographic – my 6 and 4 year olds had
a fine time at the movie. And, like the previous installments, the time passes
pleasantly enough as you watch. There’s just not as much here as there was in
the previous two films – and even those felt flimsy.
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