Hotel Transylvania

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.

The, I think, is a movie that is fun for the whole family. Youngsters will like the characters, the older children will enjoy the jokes and plot, and the adults will likely enjoy the movie as well, being able to catch on to the more "adult" funny references and a story about a father-daughter relationship that can be appreciated.

The movie is fairly fast paced, but most cartoons are, especially ones that are just 91 minutes long. If you're planning to take your 3 year old to appreciate the plot, connect with the characters, and understand the meaning of family and love... that's not happening... it is a children's movie but it's not Sesame Street.

My husband and I took our 2 1/2 year old because it seemed like a cute movie to watch. It was. Our son sat through the entire movie and danced with the music, etc. We enjoyed it as well.

Was it EXTRAORDINARY? No. Was it a good, fun family film? Yes.

I would recommend it. If you're unsure about paying for a ticket at the theater, you can always wait for the DVD to come out.

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.

After reading reviews that either disliked or were indifferent to Hotel Transylvania and being dubious because Adam Sandler(who has been in a lot of really bad movies recently) was in the lead role, I was unsure of whether to see the film. But my love for animation and the appetising trailer over-rode my doubts and I saw it anyway. And you know what, while The Pirates and ParaNorman were better animated movies from this year in my opinion I found Hotel Transylvania much better than expected. More could have been done with the relationship between Jonathan and Mavis, it is a romantic angle that has been used many times before and as well as feeling somewhat under-baked very little new was done with it. While a vast majority of the film is fast-paced with no real dull spots, some parts of the film did feel rushed. On the other point of view, the animation is excellent, the backgrounds are both beautiful and Gothic and that is the same with the colours. The characters are well-modelled. The soundtrack is catchy and upbeat, though some of the songs could have been more than just snippets. The writing is zany and often witty with a surprising amount of heart also.

The story is predictable, but not dull. It has a number of great moments, the genre references are not as inspired as they were in ParaNorman but they are fun to spot, and I loved a lot of the slapstick-in-style gags. Especially the zombie Beethoven, the scream cheese Hors-D'Oeuvres, the shrunken heads do not disturb tags and the digs at Twilight(much more fulfilling than any of the movies combined). But it does have a lot of heart. Is the over-protective father idea clichéd? Of course. But I did find it genuinely touching instead of overly-exaggerated as I have seen described. Dracula's past is also shown in a darkly emotional way. The characters are not the most memorable I have ever seen, but they do have their likability, my favourite here was Dracula. And the voice acting was surprisingly great, to me from a non-fan who has liked him in some movies(Punch Drunk Love, Reign Over Me, Spanglish and Happy Gilmore) and hated him in others(Jack and Jill, Going Overboard, Zookeeper and Mr Deeds) Adam Sandler gives one of his better performances of late in the role of Dracula, he is actually funny as well as emotive in alternative to irritating. Selena Gomez is endearing as daughter Mavis and Adam Samberg brings some heroism to Jonathan. Kevin James, David Spade, Jon Lovitz, Fran Drescher and especially Steve Buscemi give solid support. In conclusion, surprisingly good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I gave this a complete 10 because both the wife and I (as well as the other movie-goers -going by their reactions) thoroughly enjoyed it from the beginning to the very end.

Was it predictable? Of course. Its an animation geared towards children (what would you expect?) -but like most of the animation movies of today, there were quite a few 'hidden humor' spots as well which would be completely missed by the younger audience (not unexpected since it is the adults, after all, who are forking over the bread and it doesn't hurt to keep THEM entertained as well). The movie is fairly fast-paced and the animation well done. I'm usually a little apprehensive when I've harbored good expectations from a movie based on clips/previews, but in this case I felt it truly delivered. This one will be added to our library when it (eventually) hits the shelves. Too many people look for a great amount of depth and unpredictability in animation movies -but THAT is a bit unrealistic (no pun intended) -think about it: These things USED to be called CARTOON MOVIES for a reason. They weren't intended to fit that kind of expectation. They ARE intended to be fun -and this movie is just that: FUN.