Count Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) is a successful businessman with a problem. He’s a popular owner of a high-end hotel for monsters. His Hotel Transylvania offers a reprieve for monsters of all kinds from us pesky humans. The Count’s daughter Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez) is about to turn the human equivalent of 18 and she’s dying to set foot outside the hotel walls to see what the real world is like. And herein lies the problem. As her birthday party approaches, a human teenager named Jonathan (voiced by Andy Sandberg) wanders into the hotel and she falls for him, leaving poor Count Dracula desperately trying to keep the two apart while facing some attachment issues.
What kids will think of it:
Hotel Transylvania is one of five kids’ films which screened at TIFF this fall. I watched it with my nine year-old son and he enjoyed it. He got a kick out of seeing a lot of familiar monsters and the teen boy provided a relatable character. While it won’t end up on his list of all-time animated faves (such as How to Train Your Dragon) he had a good time.
What adults may think of it:
It’s fairly entertaining and a lot of fun to hear the voices of some familiar actors such as Fran Drescher, Cee Lo Green, Jon Lovitz and Steve Buscemi (he was my favourite as a wolf-man with a pack of kids and a wife in tow).
The animation lacks the sleekness of Toy Story and is rather basic and the story is extremely predictable. But it’s really meant for kids of course so young ones will have a fun time watching recognizable monster characters do their thing.
Best Quotes:
1. Mavis: “Dad, everyone here is ancient”
2. Jonathan: “Speaking of awesome, that cape thing is killing it!”
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Love, love, loved this movie.