Hotel Transylvania could have been something special. Once you get past a few of the kings of non-comedy — Adam Sandler, Kevin James and David Spade — being involved, Hotel Transylvania sounds devilishly delightful on paper.
It's directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and the ridiculously good Star Wars: Clone Wars mini-series. The music is handled by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo (and Yo Gabba Gabba!), while Robert Smigel, of SNL’s TV Funhouse and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, had a hand in the screenplay.
That’s not to say that Hotel Transylvania is bad — it’s not. It’s just billed as a comedy — and, it’s not.
Looney Tunes, Cee Lo Green and invisible butts after the jump!
It's directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, the creator of Dexter's Laboratory, Samurai Jack, and the ridiculously good Star Wars: Clone Wars mini-series. The music is handled by Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo (and Yo Gabba Gabba!), while Robert Smigel, of SNL’s TV Funhouse and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, had a hand in the screenplay.
That’s not to say that Hotel Transylvania is bad — it’s not. It’s just billed as a comedy — and, it’s not.
Looney Tunes, Cee Lo Green and invisible butts after the jump!
In Hotel Transylvania, Dracula (Sandler) has built a castle in the wilderness, a place he feels he can keep his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), safe from the dangers of the world (i.e., monster-hating humans). This fortress also doubles as a five-star monster resort, a holiday refuge for creatures ranging from Frankenstein (Kevin James) — well, technically Frankenstein’s monster, but that’s neither here nor there — a mummy (Cee Lo Green), a werewolf (Steve Buscemi), the Invisible Man (David Spade) and so on. Things get problematic when a human teenager (Andy Sandberg) finds his way to the castle and falls in love with Dracula’s daughter.
There’s a small amount of Cabin in the Woods-like fun to be had here trying to pick out all the creatures from popular culture that make an appearance.
Also on the good side of things is some gorgeous animation. It has a style that feels fresh, though it’s obviously largely inspired by Looney Tunes, which I’d consider a big plus. The score brings back memories of stuff that could have been penned by Carl Stalling. In the first few minutes, the Looney Tunes inspiration feels especially apparent. The CG animation blends that classic cartoon vibe with a pinch of Tartakovsky’s more angular style. Though the characters aren’t delivering big laughs, they are quite easy on the eyes.
But underneath it’s shiny exterior, there’s not much that stands out about Hotel Transylvania. The overprotective parent bit has been done better in Finding Nemo, Puss in Boots one-ups it on action-pack-ed-ness, and Kung-Fu Panda kicks its ass at comedy.
Other than the chance to admire Tartakovsky’s style, there is one other good reason to see this, and that’s if you have children. Otherwise, I can’t say there’s too much here for 18-and-ups. Any attempts at humor just for the older crowd are too few and far between, and the abundance of fart/butt jokes seem like far-too-low-hanging fruit to warrant the price of admission.
--Eric Pulsifer
There’s a small amount of Cabin in the Woods-like fun to be had here trying to pick out all the creatures from popular culture that make an appearance.
Also on the good side of things is some gorgeous animation. It has a style that feels fresh, though it’s obviously largely inspired by Looney Tunes, which I’d consider a big plus. The score brings back memories of stuff that could have been penned by Carl Stalling. In the first few minutes, the Looney Tunes inspiration feels especially apparent. The CG animation blends that classic cartoon vibe with a pinch of Tartakovsky’s more angular style. Though the characters aren’t delivering big laughs, they are quite easy on the eyes.
But underneath it’s shiny exterior, there’s not much that stands out about Hotel Transylvania. The overprotective parent bit has been done better in Finding Nemo, Puss in Boots one-ups it on action-pack-ed-ness, and Kung-Fu Panda kicks its ass at comedy.
Other than the chance to admire Tartakovsky’s style, there is one other good reason to see this, and that’s if you have children. Otherwise, I can’t say there’s too much here for 18-and-ups. Any attempts at humor just for the older crowd are too few and far between, and the abundance of fart/butt jokes seem like far-too-low-hanging fruit to warrant the price of admission.
--Eric Pulsifer
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