Hotel Transylvanie 3 : Des vacances monstrueuses

I saw this early (June 30) as an Amazon Prime member (cool perk btw), and thought it was super cute. Not quite as good as the first two but still great movie for kids and adults. All the same voice actors as in the first two films. Same witty humor. Overall great summer flick!

"Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation" / "Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation" is just as okay as its predecessor, "Hotel Transylvania 2." The major difference is that this one has far better animation.

If you've seen the previous movies, you know what's up. And you'll know the characters and you'll get the jokes you expect this to make. And you get a bonus love story on top of that. Now you don't have to have seen the other movies to "enjoy" this. Actually especially young kids who watch this may not have been born when the others were released.

Again, this aims to please the kids and Adam Sandler is doing another fun/children movie. You can hate it on it for multiple reasons or accept it for what it is, if it doesn't float your boat. It's not excellent, it's not a masterpiece (quite far away from it), it does exactly what it says on the cover. Nothing more and nothing less either.

The first two movies are extremely fun and well made cartoon movies. They have the feel of a silly Saturday morning cartoon with some of the most quirky animation in modern movies. They also had some heart and a really interesting stories.

This one throws all of the heart and story out in favor of full on cartoon silliness and makes it the worst entry in the series.

The animation is still some amazingly well done cartoony animation. It's not the technical marvel that Pixar movies are, but it really does the cartoon aspect of it well.

There's still some fun gags to watch, but a lot of this movie relies on those over dialogue or an interesting story. There are 3-4 scenes where there are no dialogue and just end up being really kind of dull. I know it's a kids movie, but there's just scenes in it that really feel aimless and are gags that just go on for way too long. It makes 50% of the movie just feel like filler to spread out the simple plot to a 90 mins to entertain kids.

Drac and his love interest are the main focus in this and most of the other characters become tertiary and are no more than glorified background characters.

It's still got enough of the wacky animation and outlandish humor, but it kind of feels like they didn't have enough to do with the plot. The first two held my interest the whole way through, but this one was just filled with way too many extended bits that go on for way too long and just feel aimless. It's very reminiscent of how Minions has those extended scenes of the minions doing some silly event that derails the movie for 5 mins and has no impact on the story.

Here's hoping the 4th in the series has more to it and can keep it intriguing for the adults too.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation is an entertaining animated film filled with unique creativity. Wonderful voice acting and a distinctive animation style separate this from the majority of animated films. This is sure to be a worthwhile watch for all families.

The movie follows Dracula (Adam Sandler) as his boring hotel business and lack of love continue to bring him down. Wanting to bring back his joy, daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) surprises Dracula and the rest of his best friend-monster pack with an adventurous monster cruise. Initially angered by this, Dracula slowly begins enjoying himself and even finds a new crush in the mysterious yet charming cruise captain Ericka (Kathryn Hahn). However, things take a left turn when former nemesis Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan) hunts the cruise, threatening the lives of all monsters aboard.

Adam Sandler, as Dracula, is my favorite character as his transformation to being his old adventurous self is well-presented. His love for his daughter and kind acceptance of humans also provide for a nice central message. Selena Gomez, as Mavis, continues to shine by providing an equally strong father-daughter bond with Dracula. Kevin James, as Frankenstein, greatly presents a dumbfound friend to Dracula whose deteriorating body assures for some inventive comedy. Steve Buscemi, as Wayne/Wolfman, regales with his signature voice highlighting the character's parenting struggles with his many cubs. David Spade, as Griffin/Invisible Man, equally entertains despite not having a corporeal form. Last but not least, Keegan Michael-Kay, as Murray/ Mummy, completes the pack with his unique, child-like nature. Kathryn Hahn, as Ericka, adeptly portrays her mysterious past and interesting attraction for Dracula. Jim Gaffigan, as Abraham Van Helsing, exhibits a new take on the legend monster hunter.

Genddy Tartakovsky brings out his zany and fast-paced direction in new ways. In spite of that, this is nowhere as memorable and groundbreaking as his other works, such as Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory. My favorite scene is the opening one which quickly introduces us to the Dracula-Van Helsing rivalry and sets the stage for a grand adventure. The biggest flaw in the movie is that some of the humor comes across as farcical and this could dissuade adults from watching. Also, the plot is rather one-note and forgettable, especially when compared to the standard of Tartakovsky's other work.

The movie's message is to never discriminate against a person based on their looks and instead, appreciate them for who they are. I give this film 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it for ages 6 to 18.

Reviewed by Arjun N., KIDS FIRST! Film Critic. For more reviews by youth, visit kidsfirst dot org.