Hotel Transylvania

It’s always best to keep an open mind on an idea that on the first look, seems like a failure waiting to happen, as it can surprise you in a way that changes your perception on not just the idea, but also who’s attached to it. Adam Sandler has been a comedian that definitely has talent, but his constant showcase in terrible movies has painted a bad image of his career and his comedic style. The 2012 Sony animated movie, Hotel Transylvania, was a project that had Sandler as well as a lot of his usual comedic crew, so it wasn’t setting the film up in the best light, but through great writing, acting, animation and a surprising amount of genuine heart, this movie turned that disbelief into overwhelming delight. In present day, Transylvania, Count Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) has opened a hotel for monsters which can act as a shelter away from the eyes of humanity, whom Dracula holds a strong hatred for after they caused the death of his beloved wife Martha. His actions prove to go too far now that he is actively trying to prevent his teenage daughter, Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) from leaving the confines of the hotel and journeying into the outside world. On the eve of her 118th birthday, Dracula discovers that a human teenager named Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg) has stumbled into the hotel and accidentally makes a strong connection with Mavis. Seeing that Mavis may have developed a crush on Jonathan and fearing that this might take her away from the hotel for good, he dresses him up and convinces everyone in the hotel that he is in fact a monster. Dracula tries his best to keep his hotel in check and maybe slowly start to warm up to Jonathan now that he is bringing a sense of life and fun to the hotel (and even his daughter), while trying to prevent the hunchback chef, Quasimodo (voiced by Jon Lovitz) from discovering Jonathan and cooking him alive. Despite the public’s disdain for Adam Sandler and the film not doing very well critically, the strong box office mixed with the eventual franchise that would grow from this proves that it left its impact on those who saw and it, and appreciated it for its fantastic visuals, memorable characters, and genuine feeling of heart.

The concept, though seeming a bit misplaced, is full of fun material that can work great from a comedic standpoint as well as an animation standpoint. With a story written by Todd Durham, Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman, it feels like a perfectly realized of what could be a very one-note idea, as a hotel for monsters has room for an almost Addams Family or Beetlejuice kind of atmosphere, and it kind of manages to pull that off with great in-jokes, clever satire, and hilarious comedy that comes from the characters, the world and the tone that is laced with a sense of macabre darkness but is always delightfully silly. It feels like everybody involved with this picture is aware of the kind of material they have to work with and do their best to not only bring something visually fun and creative, but never take away from the real charming element that also comes through in this film. The story itself is a little cliched and contains a lot of tropey characters, situations and even plot lines that can be a little tiresome at times (especially in regards to the ”liar reveal” or ”third act break-up”, as those qualities are so old-fashion and feel like cliches from within Sandler’s earlier work that still haven’t been removed), but it doesn’t ruin the rest of the film’s solid pacing and engaging characters. It knows when to run with the comedy and be zany and over-the-top, but it also knows when to just let a moment sit and have their characters express their emotions and properly engage in a situation, and it really nails these elements surprisingly well. Some of the lines can be a little too modernized and the movie overall can be a little too forceful with these inclusions to the point that it can feel a little dated and painful (there are a lot of pop songs in this movie, and it can get a little tiring), but they aren’t too intrusive and are thankfully short enough that they come and go relatively quick. You can feel a split in terms of quality from within the writing staff, where some of the jokes feel fresh and active in a child-like sense that is engaging and fun (probably coming from Dan and Kevin Hageman who would later go on to write for The Lego Movie) and other lines feeling like typical Adam Sandler humor that is low-brow, stupid and incredibly dated (probably coming from the main screenplay written by  Robert Smigel and Peter Baynham, who don’t have a ton of great material to their names outside of a choice few).

The cast of characters are the usual monsters that you’d associate with the horror genre like Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, etc, and they are portrayed in a way that is certainly overly comedic but carries enough tributes to their origins to make them work well within this tone without losing their touch. There’s a lot of attention brought onto their designs that not only look fantastic and are detailed in a way that makes them look cartoonishly exaggerated whilst not being distracting, but even their movements and manner of carrying themselves adds to their likeable nature, which shows the talent of the animation for including that detail with their designs. While some of the characters aren’t fleshed out incredibly and mostly just feel like a bunch of SNL alumni returning for another round in the Adam Sandler train, they aren’t as distracting as you’d expect and the bond that’s formed between all the characters is very likeable and wholesome. They find value and comfort in stuff that might seem grotesque and messed-up to regular folk, but the genuine nature of their compassion for the other makes it work nonetheless (very much like Addams Family in that regard). Adam Sandler as Dracula does sound like a terrible idea on paper, but he actually does a surprisingly good job as the voice; it’s not overplayed, its distinctly his own creation while not being distracting, and his comedic moments and even his serious moments are done pretty well. That mixed with his wonderfully petite design and manner of walking makes him a pretty effective lead, Mavis acts a nice a nice emotional centre for the film and you genuinely want to see how explore the world, and while Jonathan can be a little annoyingly 90s as well as a little too familiar with a lot of Andy Samberg’s other animate characters (it always feels like he’s doing the same thing over and over again in that department), he isn’t too bad overall and his connection with Mavis and Dracula work well enough to not ruin things too much. The side characters are entertaining to watch with familiar voices like Kevin Smith, Steve Buscemi, CeeLo Green, Fran Drescher, Molly Shannon, David Spade and even fly-by cameos by Jim Wise, Chris Parnell, Brian George, Luenell, and Rob Riggle doing decently within their parts, although their limited screen time makes them not stand out too much as individual characters. The villain voiced by Jon Lovitz is really the only one that doesn’t really work, more than likely coming from his bland design and purpose in the story, but he thankfully doesn’t play too much of a part.

The animation in this is outstanding and really makes it feel completely different from other animated movies of its kind. This is some of the fastest, quickest most chaotically energized animation seen in a typical family film, which feels like something Sony is more comfortable with doing as their films often have that spongy flexible nature to them. Its delightfully cartoonish in the expressions, mannerisms, and actions, providing a sense of fast-pace chaotic commotion that isn’t normally seen in these kind of films, yet it’s so fantastically paced and so effect within the realms of comedy that it results in a lot of great scenes. The director of the movie, Genndy Tartakovsky, has worked on projects like Samurai Jack and Dexter Laboratory in the past, which are cartoons that clearly have an anime inspiration to them, but contain their own flourishes to be their own thing and you can feel his passion and energy for animation all throughout this movie. The appreciation for the 2D art-style comes through in how the characters emote and the organic nature of their movements, but the 3D aspects bring a lot of great color, lighting and atmosphere to the location and environments. Its colorful and vibrant, its lively when it needs to be and is soft when it needs to be, its flowing and creative in a way not often seen in most animated movies, and it’s a great showcase of a fantastic animation talent.

Hotel Transylvania doesn’t look like much at first but given time, it appears to have formed its own crowd and arguably has become a staple of the Halloween season, and for good reason. What should have been a completely non-motivated quick cash-in fluff piece of a film, takes advantage of every single situation it creates for a memorable, romantic, charming, passionate film that is way better than it has any right to be. The characters are likeable, the acting is very good, the story though cliché, has some stand out moments, the animation is amazing, the writing is mostly strong and tight, and it offers a great deal of likeable heart in an otherwise insane picture. Its ambition is only matched by the passion of its crew and though it does have its fair share of problems, for something that should have failed from the mere speculation, it’s amazing to see how well the movie turned out.