Now celebrating her 118th birthday, Mavis is old enough to explore the outside world. The guests invited to her party include some expected and unexpected characters: Frankenstein (Kevin James), Wayne the Wolfman (Steve Buscemi), Murray the Mummy (CeeLo Green), the Invisible Man (David Spade), and Quasimodo (Jon Lovitz). As if desperate to fill every vacancy, some "monsters" are a stretch: a pair of honeymooning fleas?
Lost American backpacker Jonathan (Andy Samberg) unwittingly crashes the party. Quickly disguised by Dracula and passed off as Frankenstein's cousin, Jonathan becomes something that frightens Dracula even more: a love interest to daughter Mavis.
After some inspired bits by a hotel staff of zombies and witches, once everybody is checked in there is nothing to kill but time. With rare exceptions (the Invisible Man is horrible at charades) most of the material does not rise above kid-friendly vomit and fart jokes. Hearing Fran Drescher's voice as Frankenstein's wife may be the scariest thing about the movie (or is it Adam Sandler and Andy Samberg being paired together again, after this year's earlier "That's My Boy").
The most successful scenes are the few that occur outside the hotel, providing more room for worlds to creatively collide. The claustrophobic confines of the hotel may be fine for those used to sleeping in coffins, but the audience would have benefitted, like Mavis, from getting out more.
Despite a promising concept and a wild cast of scenery chewers, "Hotel Transylvania" is surprisingly de-fanged. Children will enjoy it, but it may leave adults feeling like the movie's often-repeated Dracula impression: "bluh, bluh, bluh-bluh."
| Movie title | Hotel Transylvania |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2012 |
| MPAA Rating | PG |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | Despite a promising concept and a wild cast of scenery chewers, this monster mash-up is surprisingly de-fanged. |
