Review of Hotel Transylvania (2012) by Kai82 — 25 Feb 2021

The best animated movie that came out from Sony Pictures. It feels fresh, has great characters and started a successful franchise. It uses the classical (movie) monsters like Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, the invisible man, the werewolf and lots of others.

There is however a twist as it is no horror movie but a comedy and the humor works well. The premise is that it is the monster that are afraid of the humans and hide (They are nice people and neither evil, cruel or bloodthirsty).

This is not surprising as they get always hunted by a human mob with pitchforks and torches. As sidenote neither of the classic monsters from the old movies even slightly compares to the human monsters of history.

Back to the review. Before the events in 1895 Dracula losses his wife Martha to an angry mob of humans (With the name Martha I must now resist a lame Batman vs Superman joke;-). He vows to create a sanctuary for monsters and a safe place to raise their daughter Mavis.

So he created the Hotel Transylvania which is quite luxurious and becomes a safe haven for the monsters. For the set up: Switch to our time and Mavis 118th birthday (= Reaching adulthood for vampires).

She wants to explore and visit the outside world she only know from stories. Dracula fearing for her safety sets up an elaborate plan to scare heraway from this immediately and succeeds as she returns home (He is not evil here as he deeply cares for his daughter and the dead of his wife is a wound that never healed).

However it backfires as this lead Jonathan Loughren a backpacking traveler and 100% human to the Hotel where he checks in. With this the humorous story starts. We enjoyed the story so much as it has the correct balance between humor and seriousness (= Both parts do not harm the other).

I will freely admit that it uses a lot of tropes but these are done excellent. It also added some new things and overall it feels fresh. For the characters: I like how they used the classic characters and gave them their unique interpretations.

While you know them each one is unique and not just a copy of the established formula. The cast of the voice actors is really good. We have Adam Sandler as Dracula and I know what many think: “Adam Sandler is not funny or good anymore for many years”.

Here however he works well and I praise his performance even if I in total agree with the statement. For Mavis we have Selena Gomez and again a fitting choice as she won me over and I am not even a fan of her.

Johnathan is voiced by Andy Samberg and is the yin to yang of Dracula and Mavis. For the rest we have also a strong cast with Kevin James as Frankenstein’s monster, Fran Drescher as his wife, David Spade as invisible man, Steve Buscemi as werewolf (Has he a name he was called for in the movie?) and Molly Shannon as his wife.

A great cast and all voice actors deliver. I must also praise the director Genndy Tartakovsky who is a legend in the animated industry. For many he is the only strong asset Sony has for animated movies (Would agree to this statement).

Because it is an animated movie we have of cause to talk about the animations. They have their own art style and it looks great and convenient. All characters look and act in a way that creates immersion.

For the humor me and my friends were really entertained. There are many good scenes and some jabs at the classics. The conclusion is great and satisfying. Overall this might not be the best animated movie but it is still excellent and an easy recommendation.

It has a memorable cast and is so enjoyable that it will not be forgotten.