Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

Starring Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn, Jim Gaffigan

Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky

The Story:
Count Dracula (Adam Sandler) is lonely since the death of his wife, and his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) mistakes this depression for working too hard, so she secretly books her dad and several patrons of the hotel a cruise to the Bermuda Triangle.  On board, he meets Captain Ericka (Kathryn Hahn), and immediately "zings" with her - even though he believed you could only "zing" with one other person.

However, Ericka is keeping a deadly secret - she's the latest descendant of the Van Helsing family, whose great grandfather Abraham (Jim Gaffigan) kept trying to kill Dracula and his friends centuries earlier to no avail.  She decides to go undercover and fake wanting to date Dracula so she can get close enough to kill him, but soon realizes she might actually be developing feelings for the Lord of Darkness.

The Synopsis:
There's an issue with sequels in films in that they always feel they need to make three.  Sure, three is the number of completion, but it doesn't mean films have to keep making trilogies when they're not at all necessary.  Obviously, I started off this review this way to show that "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation" is indeed the most necessary trilogy in the history of cinema - much more important than "Return of the Jedi" or even "The Return of the King."

For those of you who don't know me, that was sarcasm.  While I've never seen the second "Hotel Transylvania" (and I worried greatly missing this huge chunk of information would leave me confused by the highly cerebral storyline of the third - again, sarcasm), I actually really enjoyed the first and found myself laughing much more than I should.  With "Summer Vacation," I found myself chuckling a few times, but that's about it.

For this unnecessary outing, our lovable Count heads on a cruise with all his classic horror buddies and family to take a rest from planning vacations for other monsters.  While on this trip, he falls in love with, of course, the descendant of the Van Helsing family who's sole purpose in life is to rid the world of monsters.  Ericka Van Helsing spends most of the film trying to kill Dracula, but then finds herself falling for the lovable bloodsucker, questioning her own loyalty to her family bloodline.  Meanwhile, Dracula's daughter Mavis is having a hard time dealing with her dad falling for another woman, fearing she will be forgotten by dear old dad.

Does this all sound cliche?  Does this all sound like the most obvious ending in the history of cinema?  Does this all sound like something that could've been wrapped up in a hour-long special on television?  The answer to all these questions is "yes."  Was this film necessary to be in theaters?  The answer here is "no."  Even at a scant 97 minutes, the film still felt bloated and long, with some of the worst editing in a children's film that I've seen in awhile.

While the actual plot could've taken thirty minutes, there's needless routes the film takes for moments of sheer confusion.  We see the werewolves being able to leave their brood of children in daycare and wondering what to do.  Frankenstein has a gambling problem.  Dracula's dad draws the attention of old witches.  Blobby has a child and a pet made from his own blob.  Dennis and Winnie sneak in their huge pet dog onboard.  All of these small subplots happen between the main plot that are probably supposed to serve as one-off stories, but instead become dizzying in their sheer lack of need to be.  None of that was necessary, and even though they try to highlight other characters, it feels like they weren't even in the film at all.

This isn't to say the film is terrible - much like the first (and, I'm assuming, the second), the animation is lavish, colorful, and quite succinct.  The characters are as lovable as ever.  Watching the film, I felt that this was a totally safe film to see - in that it doesn't take any chances, doesn't offer anything new or exciting, but merely serves as a way for parents to pop in the Blu-Ray at home and do some household chores while the children sit transfixed at the colors.  Again, not necessary for theaters, but perfectly adequate for home viewing.

The Summary:
Offering nothing new, "Hotel Transylvania 3" serves as a reminder for franchises that they don't always need three films, especially for one that's totally unnecessary.

The Score: B-