Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation

Story: Even monsters need a vacation! While enjoying some quality family time on a cruise away from his monster hotel, Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) falls in love with a human but there's more to her than meets the eye.


Review: Sony Pictures Animation's Hotel Transylvania 3 is perhaps the franchise’s weakest instalment so far. Despite A list actors getting back together to voice the brand’s likeable monsters, the story is way too clichéd and predictable for your liking. While you wait to be transported to a world of love, laughter and tears, all you end up feeling is sleepy. With zero twists and turns in the plot, the third outing fails to hold your interest despite its relatively short runtime (1 hour, 37 minutes).


While animation films tend to cater to moviegoers across all age groups, you fear that this might not even appeal to its core target audience — the kids. Since Pixar studios have upped the ante for animation films over the years, Sony’s earnest but formulaic attempt looks grossly mediocre and outdated, in this day and age.


The story lacks the emotional connect or conflict; making the dialogue seem preachy, repetitive and eventually yawn-inducing. The fun moments barely last as they are often overshadowed by an over simplistic and hackneyed plot. Even the father-daughter track, which lies at the heart of this story, fails to salvage this forgettable saga about ‘monsters can be good people’. Hotel Transylvania 3 has its meagre share of heartfelt moments but overall, it’s not the adventurous vacation film you expect it to be.


Like its visibly jaded vampire protagonist, this franchise needs a vacation to figure out how and whether it should resurrect for the fourth time. Immortality could be worse than death after all.