I didn't have a lot of high hopes for this film. I'm not really an Adam Sandler fan, and the film didn't seem very unique to me. However, when I went to see it in the theater, I found myself pleasantly surprised.
The plot is very basic - After his wife is killed by humans, Dracula builds a hotel to serve as a human-free sanctuary for his monster friends and specifically his daughter Mavis. Mavis is about to turn 118 and desperately wants to see the world outside the hotel, but Drac is extremely over protective of her and firmly believes that all humans are cruel. As Drac is planning Mavis' birthday party, a human backpacker named Jonathan wanders into the hotel. Even worse for Drac, he and Mavis start to fall in love with each other. Eventually Drac overcomes his prejudice against humans and accepts Jonathan as well as the rest of humankind. Your typical coming-of-age narrative.
The one thing that really made me enjoy this film was the animation. It greatly reminded me of those old Chuck Jones Looney Toons (or is it Tunes?) cartoons, with the exaggerated movements and expressions. Drac is particularly expressive, and this was what primarily got a laugh out of me.
Is the film perfect? Of course not. It's still your typical kids film, with morals about family and toilet humor galore. But it's definitely not as bad as one might expect.
The plot is very basic - After his wife is killed by humans, Dracula builds a hotel to serve as a human-free sanctuary for his monster friends and specifically his daughter Mavis. Mavis is about to turn 118 and desperately wants to see the world outside the hotel, but Drac is extremely over protective of her and firmly believes that all humans are cruel. As Drac is planning Mavis' birthday party, a human backpacker named Jonathan wanders into the hotel. Even worse for Drac, he and Mavis start to fall in love with each other. Eventually Drac overcomes his prejudice against humans and accepts Jonathan as well as the rest of humankind. Your typical coming-of-age narrative.
The one thing that really made me enjoy this film was the animation. It greatly reminded me of those old Chuck Jones Looney Toons (or is it Tunes?) cartoons, with the exaggerated movements and expressions. Drac is particularly expressive, and this was what primarily got a laugh out of me.
Is the film perfect? Of course not. It's still your typical kids film, with morals about family and toilet humor galore. But it's definitely not as bad as one might expect.