Thursday, February 10, 2022

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania - Movie Review


Starring the voices of Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn, Jim Gaffigan, Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Brian Hull, Fran Drescher and Brad Abrell.
Written by Amos Vernon, Nunzio Randazzo & Genndy Tartakovsky.
Directed by Derek Drymon & Jennifer Kluska.

★★

It wasn't until I was a few minutes into the movie when I realized Adam Sandler and Kevin James were not providing their voices this time around. Oh, no WONDER this skipped theaters and went straight to Amazon Prime!

These movies have always been frantic, but compared to the crack-fueled kinetic speed of this one, the first three movies look like models in subtlety. This movie is for kids who put sugar on their Fruit Loops in the morning. It makes Ren & Stimpy look like Studio Ghibli.

Here, Dracula is looking to retire, but he can't bring himself to leave his hotel to his daughter and son-in-law Jonathan just yet. In fact, he lies about a clause that says he can't transfer ownership of his hotel to a human. Jonathan then decides the best way around that is to turn himself into a monster. Hijinks ensue.

My kids laughed a few times; it's so hyper-obnoxious I kept hoping it'd find some scenes where it would calm down. It never did. It's funny though, cuz Brian Hull does a decent vocal job of mimicking Sandler, so I can't say he's sorely missed. 

P.S. A couple days later I watched the first half of The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild on Disney+, and that movie made this one look like Moana by comparison.

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