Despite it's mixed reception, I honestly quite liked the first Hotel Transylvania. On the whole, while I thought it was flawed in terms of story, I felt it made up for all it's flaws with it's cartoony sense of wonder and overall fast-paced, fun energy. So it's lovely to know that the Hotel Transylvania 2 is every bit as good if not better than the first.
The film picks up where the first one left off, with Johnny and Mavis getting married. Though the first act is rather rudimentary, in how it rushes character moments and it's own plot, the animation is still splendid to look at and is by all means filled with funny gags. But in my opinion the best thing about the first act is that it does a good job setting up the superior 2nd act.
The 2nd act is absolutely hilarious. Wow, their such inventive gags and comedic moments that honestly had me laughing my head off. What makes it even better is that the comedic moments do a great job in showing how much you love these characters and are willing stick through them even as they are being incredibly stupid. At the same time you definitely get a feeling that new aspects of the characters are being explored (Mavis wanting a better life for her son, Dracula wanting his son to follow him as a monster) as this film makes a very smart decision by trying go in a direction that places more emphasis on character development. All while being absolutely hilarious
Unfortunately the amazing 2nd act gives way to an entertaining but middling 3rd act, that while funny feels rather rushed, with its sudden introduction of it's main villain as well as Dracula's father, who while funny is incredibly underdeveloped. Still they are many fun moments to be had, (I loved the Kakie the cake monster scene) but I can't help but feel as though the film would have been better if we had a more focused third act.
Overall, I had fun with this film, and would recommend it to anyone. It manages to not only be a well animated film with great usage of slapstick comedy, it's also a good example of a sequel that compliments and exceeds its predecessor.
I saw it once and I look forward to seeing it again.
Decent First Act + Amazing Second Act + OK-ish Third Act = Fun Entertaining Good-time for all
Despite it's mixed reception, I honestly quite liked the first Hotel Transylvania. On the whole, while I thought it was flawed in terms of story, I felt it made up for all it's flaws with it's cartoony sense of wonder and overall fast-paced, fun energy. So it's lovely to know that the Hotel Transylvania 2 is every bit as good if not better than the first.
The film picks up where the first one left off, with Johnny and Mavis getting married. Though the first act is rather rudimentary, in how it rushes character moments and it's own plot, the animation is still splendid to look at and is by all means filled with funny gags. But in my opinion the best thing about the first act is that it does a good job setting up the superior 2nd act.
The 2nd act is absolutely hilarious. Wow, their such inventive gags and comedic moments that honestly had me laughing my head off. What makes it even better is that the comedic moments do a great job in showing how much you love these characters and are willing stick through them even as they are being incredibly stupid. At the same time you definitely get a feeling that new aspects of the characters are being explored (Mavis wanting a better life for her son, Dracula wanting his son to follow him as a monster) as this film makes a very smart decision by trying go in a direction that places more emphasis on character development. All while being absolutely hilarious
Unfortunately the amazing 2nd act gives way to an entertaining but middling 3rd act, that while funny feels rather rushed, with its sudden introduction of it's main villain as well as Dracula's father, who while funny is incredibly underdeveloped. Still they are many fun moments to be had, (I loved the Kakie the cake monster scene) but I can't help but feel as though the film would have been better if we had a more focused third act.
Overall, I had fun with this film, and would recommend it to anyone. It manages to not only be a well animated film with great usage of slapstick comedy, it's also a good example of a sequel that compliments and exceeds its predecessor.
I saw it once and I look forward to seeing it again.