Hotel Transylvania is not worth checking into

Hotel Transylvania is an animated move about Count Dracula opening up a high end hotel that caters to monsters.  The Invisible Man, Frankenstein, a family of werewolves and other monsters come to the hotel to celebrate Mavis (Dracula’s daughter) 118 birthday.  The monsters fear humans and everything is fine at the hotel until Jonathan (a hapless human), backpacking across Europe gets lost and ends up at the hotel.

At times Hotel Transylvania is an entertaining movie, zipping along with clever animation and monster gags.  Mavis (Selena Gomez), Jonathan (Adam Samberg) and Frankenstein (Kevin James) all do a great job and make their scenes the best that the movie has to offer.

During other times Hotel Transylvania slams the breaks on the monster party.  Coincidentally, every time the movie stopped being fun was when Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) was on.  Dracula leaves to do something and the scene loosens up, he comes back in and the fun leaves the screen like a balloon losing helium.

Part of the problem for me was that Sandler used the exact same voice in Hotel Transylvania that he did in Zohan.  Did you see Zohan?  If you didn’t see it, don’t, it’s horrible.  Now, take his exaggerated Jewish accent from that movie and make him a vampire.  I know, Hotel Transylvania is a kid’s movie and I should be able to get past bad accents.

But I can’t.  The supporting cast and the productions affiliations to SNL made this feel like an extended skit, without the semi-adult humor.  All the movie needed was David Spade to voice over a character in the movie too and it’s complete.  Sure enough, Spade is in the movie as is Steve Buscemi, another perennial Sandler favorite.

If you’re a child who like mummy fart jokes and haven’t seen any of Sandler’s previous movies you’ll like Hotel Transylvania.  Adults who like Sandler may enjoy the movie somewhat, but will notice how the movie has long ebbs and flows between fun and not.     Additionally, the 3D wasn’t needed in the movie at all.  The 3D now can be really good, but it doesn’t have to be in every single movie.  When it’s done in an obligatory fashion it just wreaks of a money grab.

Bottom line:  This is good for the kids.  The adults that see it will be reminded how rare entertaining movies are for kids, as well as, adults.