'Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation' Seems Like Made-for-the-90's

In Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation, Dracula (Adam Sandler) starts feeling lonely from the fact that he’s been single since his wife’s death.  Mavis (Selena Gomez) misunderstands his behavior as being stressed out from running the hotel.  Thinking that it’s time for everyone to have a vacation, she books a luxury cruise for her family and their friends in the Legacy.  Once boarded in the gigantic ship, they proceed to enjoy buffets, pool volleyball, undersea diving, checking out various exotic locations, and other relaxing activities.  Meanwhile, Drac has found himself falling in love with the Legacy’s human captain, Ericka (Kathryn Hann).  Unfortunately, she is the descendant of Drac’s arch-enemy, Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan), and is secretly keen of destroying him.

I’m fond of these Hotel Transylvania movies.  I think they’re underrated.  Yes, they aren’t really outstanding animated films, but they aren’t as terrible as what their critical receptions suggest.  Among all of the current middle-of-the-pack animated film franchises out there, Hotel Transylvania is one of the most enjoyable, if not the most enjoyable, in my opinion.

Though the first two installments are better, this third one is still fun.  Like its predecessors, it’s very predictable, but it doesn’t feel off-putting because there’s much sincerity in the execution.

Moreover, it’s generally funny.  The monster squad is as delightful as ever, and since a bunch of accomplished comedians is involved in the voice acting (Adam Sandler, Adam Samberg, Kevin James, David Spade, Steve Buscemi, Keegan-Michael Key, Mel Brooks, Molly Shannon), much comedic energy is provided by these endearing characters.  The physical comedy works compellingly most of the time (the sequence with the crumbling gremlin airline had me in stitches).  There are even jokes that fly over kids’ heads but adults will get.

However, I find some of the decisions made in the movie strange.  Specifically, there’s some sense of old-fashioned-ness to some elements.  It’s like certain gags, tropes, and themes are taken from a “How to Make an Animated Movie for the 90’s” playbook.  Now, I actually appreciated them because I grew up in that decade, but they won’t necessarily have the same effect on the 5-to-10-years-old demographic – which is only, you know, this movie’s primary target audience.  A clear example of this is the “Macarena” playing a big part in this climactic moment in the third act.   Are kids right now even aware what the “Macarena” is?

All in all, I had a good time with Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation.  Though it’s just an average animated movie at best, I still had plenty of big laughs and my heart was aptly warmed.