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The Hotel Transylvania series is special for two reasons: (1) it is made for children as well as parents and (2) it tackles some surprisingly difficult subjects. I saw the first movie when it came out in theaters while I was still in college. My gut told me that it might not be good, but I was really curious to see what a monster movie featuring Adam Sandler would be like. And not just him; Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, and other famous stars were featured as characters. Even Steve Buscemi would be playing the werewolf, and I just love him. It had been a while since I had heard about an Adam Sandler movie I wanted to see, and I tried not to be too optimisitc. However, I ended up really enjoying it. It is an energetic movie with a fun animation style and a love for the Halloween monster genre. (I say "Halloween monster" because, for example, "Frankenstein" is mostly the name of the monster in this case, not the scientist.) I wondered if there was too much pop music or if the plot could be more sophisticated, but decided it was meant for kids and that was that. As Nostalgia Critic of Youtube said, it is fast paced, so any music or joke not to your taste goes by quickly. They move right along, not leaving laugh pauses.
Later, after watching The Croods and Hotel Transylvania 2, I began to question my initial reaction to the film. Was it really just for kids? Or is it a children's movie with a valuable lesson in it for dads? (You can see my review of The Croods to understand why I was thinking about this.)
The challenging subject matter really comes to light in the sequel, which was direct to DVD/Netflix. During the first movie, we see the side of those people who were once discriminated against and now are finding it in their hearts to accept their persecutors as people. In the second movie, we see a bit of the reverse. We see the people who still know only the stereotypes and make too many assumptions without asking enough questions. Before I say more, let me launch into the story.
Hotel Transylvania 1
Dracula lost his wife to a human mob over a century ago, so he built a hotel where monsters could live in quiet peace and his daughter Mavis could grow up away from danger. Now that Mavis is turning 118 and will be an adult, Drac desperately puts together a plan to scare her into staying in the castle despite her desire to see the world and maybe fall in love. He has his zombie hotel workers put together a fake village where they pretend to be humans and come at Mavis with fire and garlic bread. The plan works and Mavis decides to stay at the hotel, where Drac is putting together a huge birthday party for her. All his best friends have come: Frankenstein (and his wife), the Mummy (and his girlfriend), the Wolfman (and his family), and the Invisible Man (and his glasses). On top of that, the hotel is packed with visitors. Little does Drac know that the fire from the fake village drew attention. In the midst of the hotel chaos, a 21-year-old human traveler named Johnathon finds his way in with his backpack, completely oblivious about what he has stumbled across. Drac panics because his hotel's reputation as a safe haven could be ruined, so he dresses Johnny up as a Frankenstein relative to sneak him out. Unfortunately, he continually bumps into Mavis or other monsters who like his company. He and Mavis "zing" when they first meet, love at first sight, but Drac is unaware of this. Throughout the film he tries to get Johnny to leave the hotel, and over and over again he is forced to use the excuse the Johnny is there to help plan the birthday party. Everyone has a hard time believing a control freak like Drac would ask for help, but they like Johnny and go along with it. Eventually Dracula and Johnny start to get along and have fun together. Meanwhile, Quasimodo the chef picks up Johnny's human smell and tries to capture him or reveal him, eventually succeeding in the middle of the big dance, right after Drac sees Mavis kiss Johnny. Chaos ensues as the monsters run from Johnny. Mavis stays behind to tell him she doesn't care that he is a human. Sadly, Johnny sees Drac watching and pushes her away, taking his backpack away to the airport. After thinking Mavis ran away, he finds her sitting on the roof, depressed, saying she had read the book about love her mother left to her and that she thought she and Johnny had zinged. A romantic at heart, Drac realizes his mistakes and convinces his friends to drive him to the airport during the day. They are terrified of humans, but find themselves in the middle of a Monster Festival where everyone is a huge fan. Then he flies after Johnny's flight, hypnotizing the pilot to speak to him via the intercom and turn the plane around. The film ends with the party getting back underway, Mavis and Johnny getting together, Dracula joining in with a song, and fireworks bursting in the sky as an invitation to all.
Hotel Transylvania 2
The film begins with Mavis and Johnny's wedding, where his human family and the monsters struggle to get along. Soon after, Mavis reveals that she is pregnant. She has a boy named Dennis with curly red hair like his father's who shows no signs of being a vampire at all, much to Dracula's disappointment. In fact, Drac is flat out in denial and takes every opportunity to try and force Dennis to grow his fangs. When Johnathon and Mavis have the opportunity to visit his parents' home in California, Drac is left in charge of Dennis. The vacation is a chance for Mavis to be a young woman without a kid for a while, but it comes with a fair bit of racism as Johnny's family tries to make her comfortable using cheap Halloween decorations. Meanwhile, Drac and friends continue working on turning Dennis into a vampire. His birthday is coming up and when he turns 2 it will be too late for him. They even take him to vampire camp, only to discover the emphasis is on safety and learning these days. When Drac accidentally burns down part of the camp, Mavis drags Johnny back to retrieve Dennis from him. She confronts Drac about his sneaky behavior and asks him if Dennis is not good enough the way he is. Fed up, she announces that she and Johnny will move Dennis to California after the birthday party. This is clearly going to be a struggle for her as an outsider covered in thick sunscreen and constantly wearing huge hats, and Drac feels terrible for pushing her to this. However, he does not have much time to think about how to make her stay. His father Vlad was invited to the birthday party and has no idea that his great grandson is a human boy. Drac spends a lot of time trying to keep Johnny's offensive family from revealing themselves at the costume party, but in the end Vlad and his demon bat henchmen discover the truth. Dennis and wolfgirl Winnie are chased down by the horrible creatures, and in a moment of righteous anger Dennis grows his fangs to protect Winnie. The vampire family defeats the demon bats, and even Vlad joins them when he realizes that Dennis is family, one way or another. Mavis decides not to move away and Johnny's family begins to get along better with the monster world.
This movie is quite bold in its subject matter—young mothers, racism, mixed race parenting—which is why I think its direct to DVD/Netflix release was a good thing. Johnathon's parents are the best example of people being offensive and not asking enough questions, as they are the quintessential clueless American parents. We also see the hate that the long time objectified people can have in the form of Dracula's father and his bat demons, who are determined to kill any humans they encounter. There attack on Dennis and Winnie is really quite violent. There is no blood, but the murderous intent of the demon bats is palpable. There is also some coverage of the difficult position Mavis finds herself in. She is a young mother who has missed out on being a normal teenager due to her sheltered youth and early marriage and pregnancy. She is also the mother of a child who does not look like her and prefers another culture to her own. At home she handles this very well, but the thought of her moving California really makes the audience feel for her.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation
Apparently the non-theatrically released Hotel Transylvania 2 garnered enough popularity for a theatrical sequel to come out!
Dracula is continuing to run the hotel with Mavis by his side and he is happy doing it, but he is beginning to get lonely. It has been many years since his wife died and he has never had companionship like hers again. In a moment of desperation he tries a dating app, only to be interrupted by Mavis, and she misunderstands his recent behavior as simple weariness. She takes her family and friends on a surprise vacation, which turns out to be the first monster cruise! At the helm is Captain Ericka, who Drac immediately zings with, although it is one-sided. He proceeds to dress up nicely and strut around, only to act like a fool when she is near. Unfortunately for him, the cruise ship is owned by the vampire hunter Van Helsing, who never succeeded in catching Drac and now lives as a steam-powered cyborg to make sure his mission is fulfilled. Ericka is his great great granddaughter and their plan is to take the monsters on the cruise all the way to the city of Atlantis, where there is an artifact said to be the key to killing monsters. Van Helsing makes Ericka promise not to kill Dracula before that, but she tries to anyway and fails many times. She even goes on a date with him in an attempt to poison him, only to discover that garlic just gives him indigestion. Meanwhile, Mavis is getting suspicious of Ericka's behavior, noticing her in weird places, but everyone thinks she just doesn't want to see her father with a new girlfriend. When they reach Atlantis, Drac follows Ericka on her expedition to find the artifact, saving her from booby traps and ultimately helping her. This is the cherry on top for her with Drac, but she is still loyal to her great great grandfather and brings him the artifact. It turns out to be a piece of music that allows him to control the enormous kraken sea monster as a way to kill the other monsters. Before long Ericka switches sides, choosing to save the children and people she has come to realize are innocent and good. Then Dracula and Johnny fight Van Helsing's musical hypnosis of the kraken using Johnny's portable keyboard and MP3 player, eventually playing such good-hearted, mind-numbing music that Van Helsing loses control. He is knocked down and is saved from falling, which makes him realize he has been wrong all these years. Drac proposes to Ericka at the film's end.
This third movie was not as good as the first two. It feels like there was some wasted potential with the story, like it was written too fast for anyone to see what it could be. Ericka is the character the film really rides on as an antagonist and Van Helsing is the lead villain, but neither really feel like a threat. Ericka's cheerful attitude as the cruise captain is just too believable and comfortable considering that she hates monsters and has never been around them before. It is never explained exactly how Van Helsing went from vampire hunter to cruise ship owner, although we know the end goal is to reach Atlantis. Ericka's decision to kill Drac without Van Helsing's permission is funny, but none of her attempts are all that interesting. Drac's escapes seem less about his amazing abilities and more about her ineptitude as a vampire hunter. By the end, you feel like you have been waiting forever for Ericka to admit she is in love with Drac, and when she says that she did zing, you end up saying "What? When? Her eyes never did the sparkly thing every other zing character's did." Saying that she zinged would also indicate that it was love at first sight, which would have made things more interesting if she was constantly fighting these crazy feelings she had for him. Van Helsing lurking in the boiler room is somewhere between creepy and pathetic; nothing about him makes you worried, and you honestly do not believe the plan would have succeeded without Drac helping it along by accident. Nothing about Van Helsing is that interesting besides his overly busy design, and nothing about Ericka makes her a fun villain. Early on Van Helsing refers to his secret weapon and how "you can only kill monsters with monsters." He ends up meaning the kraken, but wouldn't it have been so much cooler if Ericka turned out to be a vampire Van Helsing had stolen and turned into a super strong vampire hunter? Instead we just a cruise captain with some acrobatic capabilities. In the first two films, the driving factor is the characters. In this film, it is the locations and backgrounds.
So, what did we learn? I would say all three movies are good ones for parents to watch with their children and listen to. We all need to know that it can be hard as a single parent or a mixed race parent, that we have to let our children make decisions for themselves and their children, that we might not know everything about other cultures, that widowers can get remarried without feeling guilty when they find love and companionship. Even though the third movie is not as good, I was happy to see it in theaters and I think it still has something to offer.
Pictures found on Google Images.
