Hôtel Transylvanie

I did not know this movie was directed by Tartakovsky, which is probably why I liked it as much as I did. He is one of my favorite animation directors and he does a great job in directing this movie as well. The humor is a bit hit or miss, mostly kid-oriented but there were some creative jokes and I laughed out loud a couple times. The cast does a good job for the most part and the movie has some heart to it. Overall, a pretty pleasant surprise that could have benefited from some better writing.

I went into this movie really with no expectations. I had only seen a few fragments of commercials and got nothing at all interesting from them. So, WOW, was I surprised and impressed when I saw it!! The movie was a creative story, quick moving action, funny, heartwarming, visually interesting and sometimes surprising - this film had a lot of great things going on, and I found myself really engaged and far more interested in the characters than I would have guessed. Sure, there were a few "as if" moments, but for the most part I found it to be fun, funny, and a film I heartily recommend! Kudos to the writers, voice actors and animators.... With a youngster in my home, I'm sure we'll be seeing this again soon.

Hotel Transylvania has a simple concept: classic campy monsters staying in a hotel where humans are not allowed because they think we're evil. It doesn't sound too fresh but it looks fun. Behind this concept is a father-daughter-relationship that seems to follow the footsteps of other great recent animated films. The result is, it's not getting there yet but it's still as delightful as it's suppose to be. It's one of those films that it's so crazy, you'll instantly like it. Most of the gags are clever and ridiculous. Overall, it's an endless fun entertainment.

Though, the film sometimes feels like a mediocre animated kids film. Generic family film elements are there but they are used in a different way. There is often slapstick and toilet humor but the gags are best when it's outrageously absurd. Every set pieces are swift, quirky, and exciting. The voices of the characters sound silly at glance but the actors made them pretty likable.

When the craziness slows down, there's a sweet bit of Dracula's relationship between Mavis and Jonathan, and some brooding. The drama is a little effective. It's not as strong as most recent animated films. It's more focused at being fun and hilarious. It's great when it stays to the roots of a cartoon like showing peculiar looking characters acting like lunatics. The best laughs are when the monsters are expressing their misanthropy in a ludicrously paranoid way, and when they're just making fun of each other. Mainstream pop culture song numbers kind of tone things down, but the song number at the end didn't affect the breathtaking and emotional climax.

Hotel Transylvania is good enough for the whole family even though it's raucous. Fans of the animation genre would enjoy this a lot more. Since it's directed by a cartoon expert, it contains a lot of absurd and exciting scenes that is similar to his shows. Although, some might expect something more since many animated films these days are deeper and powerful, leaving the old habits behind. Hotel Transylvania still has the heart but it's just not as compelling as the others. If you're in for the joys then this will give you a good time. My rating may be too high, but this my thing. I always enjoy this kind of animation.

..took my family to see this one today, 6 year old son, 3 year old daughter..

Both of them really enjoyed the experience, though to be honest i think my daughter connected with the movie more because of the plight of Dracula's young daughter being the focal point of the story. That really surprised me!

Any horror fan with kids will get a real kick out of this one. And even non-horror fans should find the story cute. Sandler and company really pull it together for this one, after their last couple of films were less then stellar.

Definitely a pleasant surprise, and good fun for the whole family.

Hotel Transylvania stars: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kevin James and David Spade. It goes for approximately 90 minutes. It fails to deliver GREAT 3D moments although some could be classified as 'GOOD'.

The first half of the movie is what is called 'Jokes Are Failing' Syndrome. Although they do crack in a couple of good laughs in the first half, majority don't live up to expectations that animations nowadays do. Too many slapstick moments and unnecessary forced jokes... NOTE TO FILM-MAKERS: If jokes are forced... Don't even bother with the joke!

The movie has heart though, which kind of makes for it's first half. The second half however is fun, cool, funny and surprisingly a bit thrilling! It does have it's fun moments... I will admit. Although some of the 3D doesn't work I still found it to be a good animation... Is it the best animation of the year? NO WAY! But is it great as an animation? No, not really it is what I call 'A good animation if you just let your mind do nothing!' A B from me.