Review of Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) by Michael M — 09 Feb 2016

About as good as a Hotel Transylvania sequel could be. I really liked how it continued the story established in the first movie, something which (bizarrely enough) we don't see enough in sequels. It wasn't a retread of what worked the first time, it was the natural next step for this world and these characters and I really enjoyed catching up with them.

I have some criticisms, but they're mostly minor. There's a lot that happens within the first 15 minutes (Mavis and Jonathan get married, Mavis gets pregnant, has the baby, the baby grows to a boy) and it feels pretty rushed. They could have just jumped in with the boy already grown and we would have caught up, they didn't need to show all that stuff happen. It also feels like a few characters (especially the invisible man) are only there because they need to be, but they aren't really given much to do. And finally, I didn't like how Dracula is still in competition with Jonathan. I thought we'd gotten past that in the first movie. It's not a dealbreaker, I just don't want this franchise going the way of the Fockers movies.

My criticisms are noticeable, but for the most part this is really a great movie and a lot of fun. It has the same sense of fun and manic energy that the first film had, and it introduces some fun new characters to the mix. It's not quite as well put together as the first, but it's still better than anyone would have expected it to be. Overall I liked the first one more, but this is still a worthy sequel.