RBR: Hotel Transylvania

One good scary-themed kids movie deserves another I suppose. This one centers around a Dracula who is overprotective of his daughter trying to shield her from human beings by keeping her in a hotel he built as a getaway for monsters. The dracula is voiced by Adam Sandler and his usual gang of cronies make up the majority of the voice cast. Guys like Kevin James, David Spade, Jon Lovitz, and Steve Buscemi are all here as monsters. Things run afoul when a gawky human teen, voiced by Andy Samberg, stumbles into the hotel unknowingly. In a lot of ways, this movie plays exactly the opposite of Paranorman. This is fast, loud, and in your face constantly with noise and action, never relenting for a minute of its hour and half run time. A little of that goes a long way, and yet buried amongst it all is a handful of decent jokes and sight gags that admittedly made me chuckle. It also has the father/daughter storyline that, while played too many times before, is tried and true in its effectiveness. This is far from a perfect film and certainly not the best animated film even this year, but it certainly has much more mainstream appeal and will likely offer something to everyone whether you're a kid or just a fan of Sandler's comedy. It manages to scare up just enough laughs to make it worthwhile as a rental. Rating: *** 3/4