Hotel Transylvania - Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg

The Gist

Hotel Transylvania
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In 1895, Count Dracula built a hotel, to keep his daughter Mavis, and other monsters, safe from the humans who hate monsters. Fast forward to present day, and his hotel is always packed full, and no human has ever entered. Surrounded by a creepy forest and graveyard, the monsters have been safe from human pitchforks and angry mobs. On Mavis' 118th birthday, she wants to go out and see the world. Dracula just wants to keep her safe. And then Jonathan, a real live human, walks into the hotel lobby. Mavis thinks he's fascinating, Dracula thinks he's dangerous, and if the other monsters knew he was a human, there would be chaos. What's a vampire to do when what he's always feared most turns out to be not quite as bad as he thought?

What We Think
Reviewed by Living Destiny
Run Time: 91 minutes
Rating: PG
I love animated movies. Seriously. Give me green tights and call me Peter Pan, because I am never growing up. There's something about them that, when done right, is magical. They can make anyone find their inner child. Hotel Transylvania is no exception. The storyline is pretty clever. The idea of monsters being afraid of humans has, I'm sure, been done before, but I think the idea of putting them all in a big hotel is original. A monster vacation spot, the way humans flock to sunny islands for vacation. All the monsters come to Hotel Transylvania.
Along these same lines, the script is very well written. The dialogue is funny and witty, but also moving and emotional at times. It does a good job of running the emotional spectrum. It's realistically funny too, in the way that what the characters say isn't anything unbelievable, like being too witty or too clueless. It sounds natural. When Dracula talks to Frankenstein, or Wayne the werewolf, or Murray the mummy, or even Griffin the invisible man, it's evident that they're close friends, and have been for a while. They have that easygoing, slightly mocking way of speaking to each other that I know I have with my best friends. What I didn't expect was the way Jonathan's relationships developed through the movie, not just with Mavis, but with Dracula. Jonathan falls for Mavis, so of course his relationship with her will play out as a bit of a romance, and his lines portray him to be the slightly awkward young man that we can see he is. But before watching the movie, I didn't expect Jonathan and Dracula to become as close as they do. I figured most of their interactions would be yelling, and Jonathan would spend more time with Mavis. On the contrary, he spends equal time with both vampires, and his relationship with Dracula gets deep, complicated, and close, very fast. They're basically bros. It was really nice to see, and I thought it was done spectacularly.
The voice acting was great too. Adam Sandler was the only one I could tell right away, and that's only because they have him sing in the beginning. For the most part, I didn't know who anyone was, and maybe that's because I was drawn into the story, but it was a good thing. I watched the movie a second time, knowing who voiced what character, and it made the movie a different experience. The characters were colored by my opinions of their voice actors. Some I love, some I hate, and the characters changed. That's the problem with animated movies, I think, so I'd recommend watching it without knowing who's who.
It was animated really well. Everything just looked interesting, and a little unexpected. Frankenstein was blue, the mummy was fat, the zombies weren't very corpse-like, and the human looked quirky, with his bright red hair. The colors were eye-catching, even with the amount of black in it for the vampires. I think that's part of the contrast, the very colorful Jonathan coming into the lives of the two vampires who only wear black.
This movie hits on some big themes. Wanting to explore the world, death of a loved one, soul mates. It's way more intense than I thought it would be, but it doesn't come off that way. On the surface, it's a lighthearted kids movie. Nothing too scary or too inappropriate. Just fun. With a big musical number in the end, complete with crazy vampire-human rapping. But there are some great messages in here too. I laughed, I...well I didn't cry, but I made a sad face. I laughed some more. Animated movies should do that. Get you laughing and leave you with a positive message. This one does, and I think it has a better love story than any princess movie.
Real Teen Rating ~ A+: If you haven't seen this movie you are a deprived soul!