Review of Hotel Transylvania (2012) by Filipeneto — 24 Jun 2020

This film is one of the best that Sony Pictures Animation has made, finally putting it at the level of Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks. These four giants of animated films have been fighting for a long time. Sony has so far been the most discreet and least successful competitor, however, with this film and the ensuing franchise, the studio has finally managed to show its worth.

The script is simple: after losing his wife in a confrontation with violent humans, the secular Count Dracula hides, with his daughter Mavis, in an isolated castle, protected from the humans eyes. To make it profitable, it turns it into a large hotel specially designed to welcome other monsters and creatures that want distance from people. But, as the centuries go by, Mavis has grown up and wants to finally see the world beyond the immense dark forest that surrounds the castle. And that is what Dracula is most afraid of, as he regards human beings as highly dangerous.

The film was perfectly capable of humanizing and giving a funny touch to the monsters that we get used to seeing in horror films. Dracula, the Mummy, the Werewolf, Quasimodo, the Invisible Man, Frankenstein's monster, Bigfoot... they're all here, and all of them much more human and lovable than they could be in another kind of film. The plot rests on the father-daughter relationship, on the way a father tries to protect his daughter until eventually she feels suffocated and revolts against it. The most comical scenes are reserved for the Count, especially when he plays with Jonathan, the human teenager who, against all odds, finds the castle and decides to explore it. The dialogues are excellent and the humour is everywhere.

The direction is ensured by Genndy Tartakovsky, who previously collaborated with Cartoon Network Chanel, where he was responsible for some of their most iconic animated shows. It is, therefore, an interesting bet that worked very well. The voice actors cast is large and very good, with the veteran Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez at the head. Everyone did their job very well and fit the characters perfectly. I found Sandler's effort to make his voice more Romanian especially interesting, although it might not be necessary.

Technically, the film is based on computer animation and CGI, whose quality seemed somewhat irregular but generally good. Unlike the films from other studios, music and songs are far from being the strong point here... in fact, it was one of the weakest bets in this film, with forgettable songs that seem to be there only because they have to be there, without being able to add quality and joy to the film. The ending, where music plays a predominant role, ends up a little blurred because of that.