Review of Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018) by Vahn — 11 Sep 2018

I think the reviews are being a bit too harsh on this movie: it's a fun sequel that while it has its usual serious moments they're not so serious to be campy or unfitting. I sincerely had a good time in it, despite my expectations being ultra low, and even if the humor can be cheesy and very childish at times I felt it was trying to be "that", to be silly and funny. I definitely had a better time watching this than the previous movie, mostly because they tried so hard to focus on Davis and well they didn't make a good job, resulting in him being boring. Even the first movie was better because Jonathan was a much more likable character and he was the one who gave Dracula the reason to like humans, while in the second it was Jonathan and Mavis relationship part of the struggle and Davis was just the McGuffin but barely really a character, making him just a prop rather than a real character - even in this movie he's barely got a spot, heck even Jonathan gets more highlight than both Mavis and Davis!

If anything the only thing I disliked was the forced villain...I mean it's likable and at the end they make peace, but I think they could've avoided that entirely and make it just all about dracula finding a new companion...afterall Dracula is the main character of all three movies no doubt, he's the reason why you want to watch these movies: he's still as funny as ever, he's just a tons of fun and overall I just crackled up whenever he was on screen.

Is it childish? Sure, but at least it's harmless and it knows that it's a silly, SILLY story that just wants to be funny. Does it always succeed? Nah, but those times it did it was legitimately funny and I definitely look forward to the dvd release.

Give it a shot: it's not Oscar worthy but it's just a fun, harmless flick that anyone can watch. Did I expect more? Sure, but after the second movie, I found this much more enjoyable, while the second was a drag to me.