Hotel Transylvania 2..

Well since I've been going through a lot lately, I just thought it would be a good time to watch a movie to try and take my mind off of things. And the film I chose for last night was...Hotel Transylvania 2.

Yeah, talk about a love or hate it movie. It's pretty interesting just how polarizing the first movie is. I mean, you have Doug Walker praising it as a new Halloween classic, and then you have AniMat outright calling it an embarrassment to animation. Me personally? Well I really liked it the first time I saw it, but nowadays I'm kinda in the middle. There are things to truly admire about it. (Like the fun concept, some funny humor, the fun animation, and REALLY solid voice acting by the likes of Adam Sandler).....but it also has things that does hold it back from being great, and they're pretty big. The writing's average at best, (Filled with cliches and at times poorly handled aspects) some characters are pretty weak and at times annoying (Johnny), and it can get pretty cringeworthy when it tries to be "hip", only to have jokes and music tracks that would make it feel dated in a couple of years. I mean, it is the best Adam Sandler movie in recent years, but given all his other films, it's not saying TOO much.

So what do I think of the sequel? Well, it's pretty much the same pros and cons as the first, but slightly better. For one, I really liked the family aspect around. Seeing Dracula growing a grandfather side to him, Mavis becoming a caring mother, and Johnny....being Johnny. Though I found the kid Dennis to be REALLY adorable. That's probably a bias since he's voiced by a kid named "Asher", and the fact he has curly hair, again, like me. (Kinda freaky if you ask me) Plus the other characters like Frank, Murray, Wolfman, and Griffin are fun to watch, even if most of their purpose are just being comic reliefs, and admittingly, the film does have a rather decent heart to it. I found myself really caring for the kid and how things will end up if he would be either a human or vampire. Plus, it felt like it didn't treat the issue in black and white. Showing both the advantages and disadvantages of both options of him staying in Transylvania, or moving to California. I even found myself rooting for both Drac and Mavis to be happy in the end.

As for the issues? Well, there pretty much the same as the first movie. While the story is better here, it's still rather simplistic and comes with tons of filler to make it reach the 90 minute mark, the more "hip" parts are still cringeworthy, and the villain. Oh boy the villain. Mel Brooks being Drac's father Vlad had a lot of potential. But guess what? He's BARELY in the movie. He only appears in the last act and is not as funny or menacing as he could've been. Heck, even Minions did more with THEIR villain. (And I await the stoning I'll probably get after saying that.)

So in the end, is Hotel Transylvania 2 a masterpiece? No. But to me, it's harmless mindless fun. If you're a fan of the first, then knock yourself out. If not....don't even bother. If it didn't change AniMat's mind, then it probably won't change yours either.

I give it a 7/10.