HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA is a sunny little animated film about vampires and other assorted creatures of the night. Co-written by Robert Smigel, he who makes those divine animated shorts for Saturday Night Live, there is enough, youll pardon the expression, bite to the humor to make this a mostly painless experience for adults. The film, though, is aimed squarely and unapologetically at tweens, who will find the story of an overprotective father and his daughter that yearns for adventure relatable and non-threatening. Its mostly a fluffy bit of Halloween candy, but the underlying message about tolerance is delivered effectively without becoming pedantic.
The eponymous hotel was founded by Count Dracula (Adam Sandler showing unusual restraint in the Lugosi-esque accent) as a refuge for monsters from the scourge of humans out to kill them. Hidden in the middle of a haunted forest surrounded by the land of the undead, it seems a safe bet that no human will ever find his or her way there. Of course one does, and on the very day that Draculas daughter, Mavis (bubbly voiced Selena Gomez) is turning 118. Its the day her father has promised she can venture forth from the confines of the hotel and experience the world for herself. A little subterfuge brings her screaming back, all desire for adventure quelled until she locks eyes with Jonathan (Andy Samberg), a human world-traveler with a prodigious backpack who couldnt resist the lurid tales of the local townsfolk about what was really in that haunted wood. Its a dicey situation. Dracula cant kill him, or it would reflect badly on monster-kind. He cant let his guests find out a human has infiltrated the hotel for the first time. And when Mavis feels a zing, which leads into the films requisite pop song, he cant just get rid of Jonathan before the birthday party is over or he risks breaking Mavis heart. Jonathan finds himself masquerading as Frankensteins (Kevin James) cousin, well, part of one of Frankensteins arms cousins.
The hotel lends itself to all sorts of clever flourishes, from shrunken heads that warn people to not disturb the occupants or to alert the witchy cleaning staff that their attention is necessary. All the usual monster suspects are on-hand, most notably Steve Buscemi as a harried werewolf with too many children, too little sleep, and control issues that are not in his favor. The only real flaw in HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA is that there are no surprises here, even for tweens, right down to the sappy speech Dracula gives when he realizes his little girl has grown up. Still, the script is brisk, bristling with mostly successful gags, and the animation, whether seen in 3D or 2D, is suitable imaginative, with all the macabre elements toned down into what could almost be described as cuddlesome.
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