Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation review

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 3: SUMMER VACATION:

A “MONSTER” OF A CRUISE WITH FAST-PACED ANIMATION, LAUGHS, AND SOME TOUCHING MOMENTS!

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES AND SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

Dracula is back for a “Monster Vacation” in Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

            Adam Sandler (Happy Gilmore, 50 First Dates, You Don’t Mess with the Zohan) and animation legend, Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter’s Laboratory, Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars) returns in the third installment of Sony Pictures Animation’s Hotel Transylvania trilogy. While nothing spectacular and despite the series receiving mixed reviews from critics I found the first two Hotel Transylvania movies to be very enjoyable and probably the only good material Sandler is putting out these days, honestly, I’d be perfectly fine if he just sticks to voice acting for animation.

            The first film released in 2012 was a humorous and surprisingly sweet take on famous monsters living together in a hotel to stay away from humans who they fear just as much as the monsters fear them with some of the most energetic animation in recent years. The movie is filled with hilarious jokes and visual gags, homages and references to classic monster stories and movies, and some heartwarming morals about family and love, as well as a more restrained variation of Adam Sandler’s style of humor.

            Due to the film’s box-office success it was given a sequel in 2015, Hotel Transylvania 2 which thankfully wasn’t a nail in Dracula’s coffin. Sure, it wasn’t Toy Story 2 or How to Train Your Dragon 2, but it was a legitimately funny follow-up that offered more of what people liked about the first one with even more jokes and homages on top of it.

            And now we have Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, the first Hotel Transylvania movie to not be released around Halloween but rather in the summer. Even though I enjoyed Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2 I was a little skeptical with this one because of the time of its release and that the #3 is usually an unlucky number in a film series, would it make the franchise crash and burn, or would it be good?

            Well it certainly didn’t crash and burn, the film has just as much of the colorful, fast-paced animation as its predecessors, clever jokes, and moments of heart. But despite being the best-reviewed film in the series, somehow, I thought the first two movies were better.

            The film follows Dracula (voiced by Sandler) running his hotel business until his daughter, Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez-Wizards of Waverly Place, Ramona & Beezus, Spring Breakers) notices he may be overworking himself and needs a vacation from providing everyone else’s vacations. So behind his back she books a cruise for their entire family including Mavis’ husband, Johnny (voiced by Andy Samberg-Hot Rod, Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping), their half-human, half-vampire son, Dennis, Frankenstein (voiced by Kevin James-The King of Queens, Hitch, Paul Blart: Mall Cop), his wife, Eunice (voiced by Fran Drescher-This is Spinal Tap, Living with Fran, Happily Divorced), Griffin, the Invisible Man (voiced by David Spade-Just Shoot Me, The Emperor’s New Groove, Joe Dirt), Wayne the Werewolf (voiced by Steve Buscemi-The Big Lebowski, Monsters, Inc., Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams), his wife, Wanda (voiced by Molly Shannon-Saturday Night Live, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby), their many, many children, Murray the Mummy (voiced by Keegan Michael-Key-Key & Peele, Keanu, The Angry Birds Movie), Blobby, and Dracula’s father, Vlad (voiced by Mel Brooks-Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs).

            As soon as they board the ship, Dracula meets the captain and cruise director, a beautiful woman named Ericka (voiced by Kathryn Hahn-Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy, Step Brothers, Bad Moms) who causes Drac to zing again. However, this awesome ship captain is hiding a secret as Ericka is revealed to be the great granddaughter of famous vampire hunter, Abraham Van Helsing (voiced by Jim Gaffigan-Mr. Universe, The Jim Gaffigan Show, Super Troopers) who plots to eliminate all monsters with the cruise as a trap.

            Dracula must resist his desires for Ericka to stop Van Helsing from destroying all of monsterkind. Oh, and Dennis and Wayne and Wanda’s werewolf daughter, Winnie are trying to sneak his giant dog, Tinkles (Don’t remember him? You’re not missing much as he made his debut in a short film before the hugely-despised Emoji Movie) onto the ship.

            The film also features the voices of Chrissy Teigen (FABLife, Lip Sync Battle) as Crystal, Joe Jonas (Jonas Brothers, Camp Rock, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian) as Kraken, Alison Hammond (Big Brother, This Morning, ITV Play) as Frankenginger, Chris Parnell (30 Rock, Archer, Rick and Morty) as Stan, Tara Strong (Batman: The Animated Series, The Powerpuff Girls, Teen Titans) as Frankenlady, and Jamie Camil (Jane the Virgin, The Secret Life of Pets, Coco) as Chupacabra.

            Overall, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation is a monster trip of fun for all ages even if it isn’t quite on par with its predecessors. The animation is just as wacky and colorful but at times it feels like the bare minimum of Hotel Transylvania’s animation.

            All the characters in the first two films had their own unique animation style and movement which made them feel more alive on-screen. Here, everyone is just as bouncy and exaggerated as the rest which takes away from what made a lot of the slapstick in the previous installments work.

            But with that said, when the film gets the jokes and gags right, they’re absolutely hilarious, Ericka’s plans to catch Dracula play like a Wile E. Coyote cartoon, more funny monster references, and Van Helsing’s presence in this movie had me laughing on the floor the moment I saw him, ironically Van Helsing here has more dignity than Hugh Jackman in the Van Helsing movie.

            Like the previous two, the film also sneaks in some sweet moments, the relationships between Dracula, Mavis, Johnny, and Dennis are undeniably charming and Mavis trying to comfort Dracula when he’s feeling lonely after the loss of his wife, most of it feels natural. Though I was hoping for a little more on the heartwarming side, but the goofy humor doesn’t ruin the slow moments.

            If you enjoyed the first two you’ll probably like Hotel Transylvania 3 fine even if it doesn’t quite have the same “Zing” as its predecessors, it’s still fun for kids and adults.