Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation

This is definitely one aimed predominantly at the kids, and the message of tolerance – while laudable – is wearing a little thin after three movies … but there are just enough good jokes in this to keep the adults amused.

Premise:  To lift Dracula’s (Adam Sandler) spirits, Mavis (Selena Gomez) books the whole gang a vacation on a monster-only cruise ship.  Dracula soon begins to fall for the ship’s human captain, Ericka (Kathryn Hahn), unaware that she and her great-grandfather Abraham Van Helsing are plotting to defeat Dracula once and for all.

Review:

The Hotel Transylvania series is an animated franchise that has always been aimed at the younger audience, and there’s nothing wrong with that.  And while it hasn’t had the cross-generational appeal of the Despicable Me films or the Pixar movies, there have always been enough gags in the Hotel Transylvania series to keep the parents of the youngsters amused.  In this respect, Hotel Transylvania 3 is more of the same.

In fact, you could say Hotel Transylvania 3 is more of the same in every respect.  There was enough new ground covered in the second film that it did feel distinct (and arguably better) than the first film – but this third film really does feel like it’s going through the motions.  The only new element to the formula is that in this instalment, Dracula (played with child-friendly charm by Adam Sandler) is lonely now that Mavis (Selena Gomez) is happily married to Johnny (Adam Samberg), and so reluctantly starts to look for love – only to “zing” with the human captain of the cruise ship, Ericka (Kathryn Hahn).  Of course, that wouldn’t be much of a story now that humans and monsters are effectively fully integrated, and so to add some drama, it turns out that Ericka is in fact Van Helsing’s great-granddaughter, and the cruise ship holiday is a trap (this isn’t really a spoiler, as Ericka’s agenda is revealed about 2 minutes after her first appearance).

“…it’s business as usual…”

Other than that, it’s business as usual.  Dracula spends half the film trying to keep things from Mavis, the various secondary characters pop up here and there but don’t really have much to do, and eventually, there’s a message of tolerance and inclusivity … like there was in the last two films.  You’re left with the feeling that maybe there wasn’t enough plot in the concept to fill three films – certainly in this third instalment, Johnny (Adam Samberg) and Vlad (Mel Brooks) feel particularly underused, and the rest of the gang are basically only around for background gags.

But if we’re being honest, the audience that comes to see Hotel Transylvania films aren’t coming for the plot, they’re coming for the laughs and the entertainment – and on that level, this third instalment does still deliver.  For the younger audience members, there are plenty of slapstick and visual gags, some of the best ones involving Blobby, and Tinkles, Dennis’ new giant puppy.  For the adults (who are most likely parents), there are some great gags involving the put-upon werewolf couple Wayne (Steve Buscemi) and Wanda (Molly Shannon), who unexpectedly find themselves with time away from their countless were-children, as well as a hilarious sequence involving an airline run by gremlins.

“…an entertaining, if fairly forgettable, blend of likeable characters & gags…”

All in all, Hotel Transylvania 3 is nothing special … but I almost get the feeling that it’s not trying to be.  It knows that it can deliver an entertaining, if fairly forgettable, blend of likeable characters mixed with gags that appeal to parents and children alike, and the truth is, there are certainly worse ways to keep the kids amused this summer.