Sony seems to have found the perfect animated platform for Adam Sandler to deliver his brand of vulgar comedy and steal a few laughs with the Hotel Transylvania franchise. Even if those laughs for the most part are a bit forced and could just cost you your soul.

hotel_transylvania_two_ver4_xlg

You see the thing is that while the story for Hotel Transylvania 2 is not that great, if I’m being honest ,and the movie overall is a bit of a disappointment, there are just enough gags that come through at the right moments, delivered wonderfully by a cast bursting with comedic talent.

The sequel picks up about 7 years from where the first movie stops, with Count Dracula’s (Adam Sandler) daughter Mavis’ (Selena Gomez) now getting married to Johnny (Andy Samberg), who happens to be a human. Soon after the ceremony it’s revealed that Mavis is pregnant, and she gives birth to a son, Dennis (Asher Blinkoff). As Dennis nears his fifth birthday Dracula gets concerned about his grandson not having grown fangs yet, because in this world if you don’t have fangs at this stage yet, you never will. Mavis and Johnny take a trip to the human side of the family to see what life will be like there for their family and Dracula makes use of this time alone with Dennis to try to bring out his vampire genes.

Mavis_at_the_Wedding_zpsbpbymdfj

Now while you can’t fault the moral message of tolerance and acceptance that Sandler and fellow writer Robert Smigel try to bring across in their movie, it’s just a story that’s been done so many times before and this time around it’s just not good enough to make the movie good. It is enjoyable however and kids being kids, they will find plenty to love about the film. As for adult viewers, the same cannot be said, the comedy though will land for more mature audiences and I doubt very much that many of the jokes will be understood by its intended audience.

Director Genndy Tartakovsky does deliver great animation, making use of a darker tone that of course fits with the world created for the Transylvanian family and being vampires it is set mostly at night, there wouldn’t be anything going on otherwise. And the collection of ghastly characters that make up the ensemble of talent provide a big platform for writing some funny jokes. The music is fun and although slightly dark in nature is mostly fun and catchy.

Hotel-Transylvania-2-Official-Trailer-2-12

Would I recommend this movie? Sure if you have kids and have enjoyed Sandler’s humor then this could be the perfect movie to force yourself to sit through when stuck babysitting one weekend. Hopefully you wont have to relive it more than once.

Making up the rest of the cast alongside Sandler is Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Salmon, Chris Parnell, Jon Lovitz, Rob Riggle, Dana Carvey, Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, Molly Shannon, Fran Drescher, and Mel Brooks.

DVD Special Features:

  • Fifth Harmony Music Video “I’m In Love With A Monster”
  • Character Sketch Gallery
  • Director Commentary With Genndy Tartakovsky
  • Commentary With Adam Sandler, Robert Smigel and Allen Covert

Hotel Transylvania 2 is available on Blu-ray and DVD now.

 

Last Updated: February 8, 2016

4

2 Comments

  1. James Francis

    February 9, 2016 at 12:32

    Can’t say I agree. I thought this was better than the first and one of the better animated films of 2015 (which, granted, had a very lacklustre selection).

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Check Also

Discover the true story of America’s founding in Netflix’s America: The Motion Picture

In this wildly tongue-in-cheek animated revisionist history, a chainsaw-wielding George Wa…