Animation can be a game changer, but a lot of
the time there tends to be animated movies that gear more to entertain and be a
fun time more than anything else. No recent series of film has accomplished
this more than the Hotel Transylvania
series. Each film consistently has a motif of the intention being simple fun
and the third continues with that by being a very simple and fun movie for
kids.
The third in this trilogy centers on
Dracula and the rest of his gang going on a cruise to help make Dracula less
upset about his life at the moment. While on the cruise, Drac ends up
encountering with a lady who falls for and the film basically becomes a
character falling in love with someone despite not sure if this character might
be all who he/she seems. On the surface, the plot seems rather basic and a
little lacking, which to the film’s disadvantage; this does feel like it’s
starting to lose a bit of steam with its story. There are not a whole lot of surprises
in terms of story as it falls victim to the typical vacation and love story
triangle, so it becomes a very predictable movie in a lot of regards. However, the Transylvania movies weren’t known
for their stories, but more so their fun sense of humor and the film does still
retain that tradition. A lot of the jokes make this film very amusing, even
when there are a decent amount of misses, there’s enough chuckle worthy moments
that makes it a fun experience to watch. And for what it is worth, the characters
also make up for the film’s plot shortcomings, while we don’t get as much
development or heart to them compared to the first film, we get to see them be
their fun selves and even some development between the main characters that’s a
joy to watch, even if the film still does have its faults on having jokes that
feel a little trendy much like the previous films. Hotel Transylvania 3 does feel light on story, but it does make up
for it with still being consistently good from the series is known for.
What adds to the film’s good sense of
humor is not so much the writing, even though it does have some fun play on
words, but more so the animation. The film has great animation being the
typical stylized cartoon aesthetic we’ve gotten from Gennedy within the past
two films. Every single character is animated so well being very eccentric with
the way they move but also incredibly expressive with how they react to all the
various things that happen throughout the film. It’s a fun movie to watch based
on the expressions of the characters alone, even if we don’t see all of them in
action as much. Plus, another thing to note is that set piece wise, the film
looks like a bit of an improvement compared to the previous two from an
animation perspective. Mainly in textures which look much more refined than how
they did previously and also just the set pieces in general being appealing to
look at from a plane controlled by gremlins to a Vegas style version of
Atlantis. It is a pretty looking movie to watch and while it won’t be the most
artistically impressive movie to see all year, it’s enough of an enjoyable
visual spectacle that you can see a lot of joy the animators had with creating
this movie.
Of course an animated film with so many
expressive characters like this one, they deserve to be highlighted for sure,
and while nothing too deep with these characters again, they do manage to be
enjoyable to watch. Dracula is easily the most developed making his character
with him dealing with a situation more similar to what his daughter went
through in the first film, just with the roles reverse, and it does make the
character a bit more grounded to see him understand his daughter more so. Plus,
Adam Sandler is again, very good in the role. Even considering when he’s now an
infamous actor now a days, his voice of Drac is much more humorous than most of
his live action roles with his voice being much more unique and not as
obnoxious as his other current roles. The other cast of characters do a fine
job as well, however most of them aren’t regulated too much else outside of
some witty side moments with one another, with the highlight being Steve
Buscemi’s werewolf character having a rather hilarious realization about being
away from his kids just to relax. The only other character to mention is the
new ones which do have a lot of merit to them, with Ericka being a very
eccentric but also developed character in terms of her relationship with Drac,
despite going the route you think it goes. But what stands out even more is her
great grandfather, who is easily one of the most entertaining characters of the
entire film, being so insane that it’s amusing to see him so angrily animated
throughout most of his time on screen. The film still isn’t the deepest with
its characters, but it gives you just enough to where you find some
satisfaction with them if you’ve been following the franchise from the
beginning.
In the end, this film won’t win over
anyone who has previously disliked the Hotel Transylvania films and it is weaker
than the previously two, but it has enough cute moments, decent character
writing and also great animation to be seen by anyone who liked these movies.
It’s flawed and weak on story, but there’s enough there to keep you entertained
for a good hour and a half.
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