In Hotel Transylvania, Dracula is the owner and creator of Hotel Transylvania, a five-star resort where the world's monsters can be safe from human civilization. Dracula invites some of the most famous monsters to his hotel to celebrate the 118th birthday of his daughter Mavis, but, when Hotel Transylvania is unexpectedly visited by an ordinary young traveler named Jonathan, Dracula has to stop Mavis from falling in love with him before it's too late!
Sounds cute, right? Well, the 3D film will be released in theaters on September 28, but some critics have already seen an early showing of the film!
Aside from all the cheesy comments ending almost every review about "checking into Hotel Transylvania" or not, the critics seem pretty divided about this movie. Some loved it, some hated it, and some just thought it was OK! We gathered some of the critical reviews for you, but be sure to leave your own reviews in the comments below!
Loved It[]
Geoff Chapman - IGN[]
Score: 9 out of 10
Probably the biggest draw here will be the characters. As long as you don't hold the classic Universal movie monsters too preciously, this is a fanboy dream come true. There are moments of campy humor that you won't be able to help but smile at, and everyone gets a chance to shine. This is a fun film, full of quirky gags and lovable characters. There are a few songs that smack a bit like soundtrack marketing for the kids, and the story is of course fairly predictable, but this movie is about enjoying a fun journey with great characters. It's a romp that kids and families will all enjoy.
Thought It Was Okay[]
Sean O'Connell - CinemaBlend[]
Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Thankfully, the clichés surrounding Tartakovsky’s classic creature characters provide an endless well of comedic inspiration for co-screenwriters Robert Smigel and Peter Baynham. Sometimes they’re goofy, as when everyone just assumes that Dracula always says, “Blah, blah, blah!” Sometimes they’re whip-smart, as when the Invisible Man tries to play charades, but everyone’s guesses are tied to his eyeglasses, as those are the only things we can see. There are more than enough of these strange little punch lines to ensure that audiences of all ages can and should book a trip to Hotel Transylvania once it opens in theaters.
Leigh Paatsch - Herald Sun[]
Score: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Bursting with great ideas, mild scares and plenty of laughs, Hotel Transylvania is A-class family entertainment that, somewhat surprisingly, gives the new Madagascar a serious run for its money. I would not go as far as to declare it should be the first choice for very small children, but anyone over six will have a ball.
Fred Topel - Crave Online[]
Score: 6 out of 10
It’s weird, I’m both disappointed and pleased by Hotel Transylvania. Disappointed because it had all the makings of a really clever modern monster party. Yet the good sequences stand out and that’s what I’m mostly remembering.
Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly[]
Score: B-
A lot of human directors checked in and out of Hotel Transylvania over the years before the project landed in the hands of the nifty TV-animation whiz Genndy Tartakovsky, creator of Samurai Jack and Dexter's Laboratory. Tartakovsky's zippy, boing-boing touch shines through in the purely physical antics of the monster mob; words aren't necessary as the freaks bounce around the place with nutso energy. (Kevin James, Cee Lo Green, Steve Buscemi, and Fran Drescher are among the guest ghoul voices.) It's the parental mush about trusting one's kid to make her own discoveries and blah blah blah (spoken in a Sandlerized version of a Dracula voice) that drains the movie of blood.
George Thomas - Examiner.com[]
Score: 3 out of 5 stars
For an animated film, Hotel Transylvania is incredibly earnest. It takes on issues of being a single parent along with racism all while trying to keep people laughing. It’s not an easy task for Genndy Taratovsky, who directs his first feature film from a script written by committee. He isn’t able to strike a balance between those plot elements and it shows. There are moments of pure hilarity, a few of sentimental tenderness but overall there isn’t a lot of soul in Hotel Transylvania.
Hated It[]
Laremy Legel - Film.com[]
Score: D+
The biggest issue facing “Hotel Transylvania” is that this story has been done before, over the past six decades, and done in a far superior manner. Okay, maybe it’s never been attempted with Adam Sandler doing a goofy Dracula impression, but the idea of a protective father not allowing his daughter to see the world has been roundly considered. We know this story, and it’s frankly astonishing that no one involved thought to come up with a greater hook than the continual site gag of “The Invisible Man.” Unfortunately, a children’s tale missing an innovative story is still a miss, and this fall you’ll likely want to book your stay at a destination other than the “Hotel Transylvania”.
Michael Rechtshaffen - Hollywood Reporter/AP[]
Score: No rating
While director Tartakovsky's retro pop sensibilities served Cartoon Network well with the likes of Dexter's Laboratory, The Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack, and Hotel Transylvania has an undeniable visually zippy style, the ghost of a script by Baynham and Smigel provides him with very little of substance. For the most part, there's just a lot of dashing about the hotel's cavernous hallways as the assembled voice cast attempts to lend some personality to the underdeveloped characters. Ironically, the scattered enterprise exhibits signs of life when the characters leave the confines of the hotel, but that hint of something more arrives too late in the game.
David Fear - Time Out New York[]
Score: 2 out of 5 stars
Bursts of manic pacing steamroll over most of the wit, a little of Sandler’s thick-accent shtick goes a looong way, and by the time the requisite life lessons about letting your offspring leave the nest get rolled out, the undead-on-arrival jokes are outnumbered by anemic sitcom gags. Tweens might appreciate the sugar-rush ghoulishness; Famous Monsters of Filmland fans and discerning kids-flick viewers may find themselves reaching for torches.
Michael Phillips - Chicago Tribune[]
Score: 1 out of 5 stars
Slowly, after various flying sequences of no importance to the story, Dracula comes around. There are wisecracks about genital shrinkage after a dip in the pool, and vampires working out of their "training fangs." Sandler executive-produced the film, needless to say. It really isn't worth any kid's time, not even a kid brought up on too many hours of "Dexter's Laboratory," "Powerpuff Girls" and other manic disposables featured on director Tartakovsky's TV resume.
Betsy Sharkey - L.A. Times[]
Score: No rating
Many of the references to horror lore and modern-day pop culture terrors will zoom right over the kids' heads. For grown-ups, they are not wry enough, and the overall coming-of-age story is pretty blah. The scares are virtually nonexistent, so the kid-friendly fun has to come from the visual silliness. There are some crowd-pleasers — a chase that has Dracula and Jonathan riding linen-draped banquet tables like magic carpets, for one — but "Hotel Transylvania" never becomes the great monster mash that seemed in the offing.
Katherine Monk - Vancouver Sun[]
Score: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Part Heathcliff and part Opera Man, Sandler’s shtick doesn’t lend anything more than fart jokes to a tired story of father-daughter tension. The kids will find the 3-D razzle-dazzle and top-notch animation seductive, but grown-ups may tire of the dirty-diaper theme and meaningless action sequences.
Wikian Reviews[]
