Hotel Transylvania landed in 2012 and introduced audiences to a world where monsters had a place to go and chill out, far from fearing for the lives from angry mobs bent on putting them to death. It featured Adam Sandler as Dracula, the man who ran the establishment, and his character was painted as someone who was having trouble with the fact that his little girl Mavis (Selena Gomez) was growing up.
The film scored with kids (and clearly some adults who bought all those tickets) and now Hotel Transylvania 2 is upon us. This time out, not only is Mavis all grown up, but she and her husband Jonathan (Andy Samberg) have a little baby boy. Grandpa Dracula is all sorts of endearing, just as he was/is as a father. But, there’s just one thing. Drac is worried that his half-human/half vampire grandson is more human than vampire. If he doesn’t pop out fangs by his fifth birthday, he’ll officially be human forever and the legendary Dracula family line will end.
The sequel from Genndy Tartakovsky (who also directed the first one) is a much different film than the first flick. Whereas in the first Hotel Transylvania it was about acceptance of monsters by humans (and arguably the other way around as well), this time out it is about the acceptance of family, even if they are grossly different than ourselves.
In that vein, we meet Jonathan’s parents, the in-laws, on multiple occasions and they are impeccably played by real life couple Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman. They could not have been more perfectly cast as humans who are suddenly coming to grips with a world where monsters not only exist, but they are now family. We also get to meet Dracula’s father, Vlad (yes, as in Vlad the Impaler). Casting icon Mel Brooks is about the best stroke of genius ever for all involved in Hotel Transylvania 2.
Drac goes to great lengths to try to ensure that his grandson’s vampire-ness comes through. He attempts to “scare” the fangs out of him. Drac takes him to all his favorite haunts from when he was a little vamp in an effort to get his grandson’s blood lust to emerge. But, no matter how hard he tries, it appears the little guy is more like his California-born slacker father than the long-toothed legacy of his Transylvania bred grandfather… or is he?
Gomez is utterly charming as Mavis and Sandler’s more effective as Dracula once again in a Hotel Transylvania movie than anything he’s done in live action since Funny People. And Sandler’s usual suspects are all back as well, including Kevin James as Frankenstein’s monster, David Spade as The Invisible Man and Steve Buscemi as the Werewolf, and they too are more charming and hilarious than in any of Sandler’s recent films.
Unlike all of the Pixar films, like this summer’s Inside Out, Hotel Transylvania 2 (and the first one, for that matter) is squarely aimed at children. Having seen dozens and dozens of animated films with theaters full of children, one thing struck this reviewer at the Hotel Transylvania 2 screening. The audience was engaged. Not once during the entire film was there any talking from our littlest audience members or any kinds of squirminess in the least.
Hotel Transylvania 2 did its job. It held the attention of all it was aimed at — kids! That’s the highest compliment this film could get.
Grade: B-