Genre: Animation, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Horror
Starring: Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn, Jim Gaffigan, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Brian Hull, Fran Drescher, Brad Abrell,
Review: Change can be a little scary, especially when Van Helsing's (Jim Gaffigan) insane invention, the "Monsterfication Ray", accidentally turns Drac (Brian Hull) and his monster pals into humans. And if that wasn't bad enough, Drac's son-in-law Johnny (Andy Samberg) has become a monster. Now Drac and Johnny must search for a rare gem to get the ray to reverse this shocking situation before this becomes permanent, and hopefully before Mavis (Selena Gomez) finds out! The Drac Pack is back, sort off, in Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.
I really enjoyed the first two Hotel Transylvania movies, the third had its moments, but this fourth film in the popular franchise is DOA - Dead On Arrival! First off, Adam Sandler does not return to voice Drac, so I spend a good 30 minutes trying to figure out why Drac sounded off. Did the Sandman have a cold or something? Oh, no! He didn't even bother with this sorry sequel. Kevin James also missed the party. Brad Abrell
provides the voice for Frankenstein. It was incredibly distracting!
Next, it's another story of Drac not being too thrilled with Johnny, a human, being part of the future of his hotel. Okay, Johnny is married to your only daughter and they have a son together. Seriously?! After three movies you think that they could have moved onto a new storyline. It's sooooo old! Even my kids said, "I thought Drac loved Johnny and they were a happy family. This doesn't make sense."
Then, there's no antagonist! It's just a forgettable travelogue.You get two characters trying to make it to a particular location without obstacles, conflict, or difficulty. Will they make it? Of course they will, relatively easy as a matter of fact. No monster hunters after Johnny. Just bugs, heat, and rough terrain. BORING!!!
Even when Wayne (Steve Buscemi), Murray (Keegan-Michael Key), Griffin (David Spade), Frank (Brad Abrell) and Blobby (Genndy Tartakovsky) are turned human the jokes are all one note and repeated over and over again. It just seems like a monstrous missed opportunity - pun intended!
And worst of all, little Dennis (Asher Blinkoff), the focus of Hotel Transylvania 2, is not even part of the story. It's a movie for kids that completely ignores its target audience. Why couldn't Dennis get hit with the ray and go back to being human? Oh, I know why... he doesn't have a recognizable celebrity voice like almost every other character in this angering animated flick. What a waste!
I honestly hope that this is movie will drive the stake in the heart of the Hotel Transylvania franchise. Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is a bland, lifeless outing that makes its under 90 minute runtime feel like an eternity. It's easy to see way this got unceremoniously dumped on Amazon. Simply Blah... BlahBlah.
Fun Fact: The first Hotel Transylvania film not to feature Adam Sandler as Dracula. Instead, Dracula is voiced by Brian Hull who also voiced the character in Monster Pets: A Hotel Transylvania Short Film (2021).