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Featuring the Voices of:
Adam Sandler
as Dracula

Andy Samberg
as Jonathan

Selena Gomez
as Mavis

Kevin James
as Frankenstein

Fran Drescher
as Eunice

Steve Buscemi
as Wayne

Written by Peter Baynham and Robert Smigel

Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky

Running Time: 1:31

Rated PG
for some rude humor, action and scary images.

B-


THE OPENING

Hotel Transylvania was a decent film, but definitely geared towards kids with little adult humor.

THE STORY

Dracula, in order to protect his young daughter Mavis from evil humans, built a hotel where only creatures can stay. But on her 118th birthday, a human crashes the party and threatens to throw everyone's life into chaos. Now Dracula must try and get rid of him before the guests (including Frankenstein, the Wolf Man and the Invisible Man) catch on. But this strange human may have already caught the eye of Mavis, who wants nothing more than freedom.

THE REVIEW

I loved the trailers to Hotel Transylvania but I guess I was expecting this new-age kind of animated film where it's for kids, but has enough adult-related humor for people my age to enjoy. Unfortunately the movie was geared almost exclusively to kids, with maybe one or two jokes for the adults. That's not to say the movie was bad, but it's not something people without kids need to rush to see. The plot is very straightforward and you can see where it's going immediately. Guy threatens Dracula's way of living, falls for the daughter, Dracula tries to keep them apart but ultimately everyone gets along with each other. It's nothing that you really need to think about, it's more about sitting back and enjoying the animation.

The 3D was OK, but standard for an animated film. Animated films are the one place where you're assured the 3D will look good, but there's also not much that they do with it to make it stand out. It's more just kind of there. There were a few moments where the kids in the audience really got into it, and a couple of moments were better than others, but in the end it was nothing to write home about. The animation itself was pretty good, more on par with your DreamWorks Animation than Disney/Pixar. And the voices were good. Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James and company all fell into the roles and for the most part, were unrecognizable, which I like. Sometimes when the voices are too recognizable you pay more attention to who is saying the dialogue, rather than the characters that are saying it. Once in a while a voice and a role fit perfectly so it works, but for films like this I prefer not knowing who is speaking.

THE BOTTOM LINE

So overall, I liked Hotel Transylvania but it really is meant for kids. It's decent enough for parents to sit through with their children, but not enough for adults to enjoy on their own. The animation/3D was OK, but not anything that stands out from the crowd.

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Reviewed 09/28/12

© 2012 Wolfpack Productions

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