Vampires need to find love, too

Between the goofy humour, Adam Sandler’s hallmark gibberish and an unfortunate return of the Macarena, Hotel

Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation houses an unexpectedly affecting story of modern love with a creaky vampire dad.

The newest instalment of the animated comedy series with old-school monster favourites sends sulky hotelier Dracula (voiced by Sandler), his friends and their families on a crazy creature cruise to the lost city of Atlantis. Again directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, Summer Vaca

tion is as confidently silly as it is wholly predictable.

This time, Drac is sullen and lonely because he hasn’t had a date in100 years, and the witchy matches on his dating app just aren’t giving him the right “zing” (monster lingo for love at first sight). To boost his mood, Mavis surprises Drac with a trip. His pals Frankenstein (Kevin James), mummy Murray (Keegan-Michael Key) and invisible man Griffin (David Spade) are all about the downtime but Drac is skeptical until he meets the ship’s captain, acrobatic and effervescent Ericka (Kathryn Hahn), and, boy, does he zing.

Unbeknownst to Drac, Ericka is the great-granddaughter of his greatest enemy, obsessive monster hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan), and she’s taken on the family mission of killing the A-list vamp.

Hotel Transylvania already had a foothold on keeping classic monsters somewhat relevant for a new generation of movie fans. But by putting a stake in contemporary relationships, too, it broadens the appeal for the moms and dads who get dragged along.