Hotel Transylvania 2
It becomes clear in the first few minutes of “Hotel Transylvania 2” that the makers of the animated comedy didn’t have much of a plan.
It’s as if they had an allnight brainstorming session, then jammed every idea on the white board into one movie. The writers seem to be winging it, trusting that the story parts will come together. And when they don’t, the filmmakers compensate by turning up the volume. This film has no reason to exist, except that the first one made a third of a billion dollars.
“Hotel Transylvania” wasn’t a great movie, but it got by on sight gags and heart, and a nice dynamic between hotel manager Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) and his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez), as she broke with monster tradition to romance a human. Co-screenwriters Robert Smigel and Peter Baynham tapped into their inner 10-year-olds, and the result felt sincere.
In “Hotel Transylvania 2,” Mavis and husband Jonathan have a baby, and Dracula becomes a doting grandpa. But there’s conflict, as both sides of the family wait to see if the tyke is going to be a human or monster. While the parents contemplate a move to California, everyone hides the human side of the family from Grandpa Vlad (Mel Brooks).
The plot influences seem to shift, awkwardly, from “Little Fockers” to “La Cage aux Folles” to that episode of “Friends” where Joey and Chandler babysit for Ross. And then there’s a grand finale, which feels like watching someone else play a video game.
There are moments of inspiration that suggest a much better movie was possible, if “Hotel Transylvania 2” cowriters Sandler and Smigel were able to maintain focus. When Dracula and his monster sidekicks tour their old haunts, they’re disappointed to learn that the desensitized humans are no longer scared. “Sorry to bother you!” one set of tourists exclaims. “Love your chocolate cereal!”
Mavis, cooped up in Transylvania all her life, finds joy in the Southern California mini-mart — and in turn helps the apathetic clerk to see the joy in his job. There’s comic potential in baby-proofing the castle of an overprotective Count Dracula, and it’s mostly realized.
But even when “Hotel Transylvania 2” is enjoyable, the screenplay’s distractible nature guarantees that the fun won’t last long. It’s typical of the movie’s approach that a wonderful talent like Mel Brooks was secured, and his character is an absolute afterthought.
There seems to be much more consideration for consistently working in the product placement, all tied to the film’s corporate overlords at Sony. Transylvania still doesn’t appear to have running water or paved roads. But Dracula’s cell phone is getting five bars ….
“Hotel Transylvania 2” is an unfortunate throwback to about 20 years ago, when animated movies were more widely accepted as cinematic babysitters. It would be OK for established talents like director Genndy Tartakovsky (“Samurai Jack”) and Smigel (the mind behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog and “TV Funhouse” from “Saturday Night Live”) to slum it on a so-called kiddie film.
But these are better days, of “Inside Out” and “The Boxtrolls.” Walt Disney Animation Studios has been on a nice creative streak, putting serious artistic effort into “Wreck-It Ralph,” “Frozen” and “Big Hero 6” in successive years.
Each of the “Toy Story” movies was arguably better than the last. (And you know Pixar’s brain trust is in a bunker somewhere, sweating the details of “Toy Story 4.”) No doubt the makers of “Lego Movie” are buried in a pile of Duplos, trying to figure out a way to top their first bit of genius.
“Hotel Transylvania 2” belongs in a less ambitious category of sequels, alongside the creatively lacking “Alvin and the Chipmunks” and “Ice Age” movies. Studio economics, not art, was the guiding force. So back to Transylvania we must go.