Hotel Transylvania 3 (2018)

Hotel Transylvania 3 (2018)

4/10

Starring the voices of

Adam Sandler

Andy Samberg

Selena Gomez 

 

Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky

The animation isn’t trying to impress, the story isn’t trying to be funny, and it doesn’t even attempt to thrill.

I remember loving Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015), but this is nowhere close to that. Hotel Transylvania 2 was different and inviting, way better than the first Hotel Transylvania (2012). Mavis and Johnny were married with a kid named Dennis. The fun was in seeing how Dracula dealt with having a grandchild and how the child handled having a girl in his life.

Hotel Transylvania 2 delivered something that’s missing in this movie: suspense. This movie is very predictable, and not in a thrilling, cinematic way. No, the predictability is wrapped up in annoying animation, especially during the “macarena” dance scene. The not-so-Disney-or-Pixar type of animation wasn’t as noticeable in Hotel Transylvania 2 because of the strong plot, but it’s glaringly obvious here since the plot is boring.

Before we dive into the plot, here’s a keyword you need to know before watching this movie: “ZING.” In the monster world, when you zing with someone, it’s love at first sight. This whole movie is about Dracula having a zing with a human lady.
It starts in the 1800s, where we see various attempts by Abraham Van Helsing to kill Dracula and his monster friends. His primary focus is Dracula because Dracula always outsmarts him.

Fast-forward to the present, Dracula is running his hotel and trying to make life better for everyone. Mavis notices that, like him, she’s been too busy keeping the business running and not spending enough time with her family. She decides to close the hotel and take a family vacation. She plans a boat cruise for herself, Johnny, Dennis, Dracula, and Vlad (Dracula’s father). A lot of the old crew tags along, so it’s like moving all the hotel guests from a stationary location on land to a moving boat.

On the cruise, Dracula zings with Erica, the ship captain. Erica, for some reason, has a dark side, and even though she doesn’t try to make Dracula fall for her, he’s head over heels in love with her at first sight. Dracula now has to keep his feelings in check because he doesn’t want anything to come between him and Mavis. Meanwhile, Mavis seems suspicious of Erica but can’t quite figure out why. Everyone else is just having a good time on the ship.

There’s no point in seeing this movie. I’ve seen it so you don’t have to go through the pain of watching it.