HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA
RYAN: It’s a family affair at the movies today since I had ’em all join me at the press screening for Hotel Transylvania, my bro Kevin, his gal Erin, and his kids Gaby and Noah. I love family films and Kevin and Noah are huge monster fans so they were very eagerly anticipating this film. I though it was super cute. What did you think, Kev?
KEVIN: I liked it. I am a big Universal Studios Monsters snob and they’re not making any new merchandise for the old things that I love. And this movie really found a way to modernize monsters of the ’30s and ’40s. This is a fresh way to introduce them to the younger generation.
RYAN: It really does make it current. And I really liked the animation and the vocal talent. I’m surprised by Adam Sandler as Dracula. I expected him to be annoying but he wasn’t. He didn’t do Adam. He did Drac and it was good.
KEVIN: He still annoyed me. I’m just not a fan. His goofy voices still sound like Adam Sandler to me.
RYAN: But he wasn’t doing that in this movie. He was Dracula. It was refreshing to hear him actually play the role instead of some corny version of himself. It’s a quick paced movie, moving forward quickly and the animation is cool. I loved how all the magic looked like purply smoke.
KEVIN: Yeah it was really cool.
RYAN: And I loved all the different monsters and their personalities. Kevin James as Frankenstein, Steve Buscemi as the werewolf… and I love, love, loved Fran Drescher as the Bride of Frankenstein. She was my fave.
KEVIN: CeeLo was out of place though. It was a cool choice for the mummy but he didn’t really hold his own with David Spade, Andy Samberg, etc… they’re on a whole different level of comedy.
RYAN: I loved Selena Gomez as Mavis, Dracula’s daughter. She’s good. And there’s a really nice moral to the story in this movie about parenting. What did you think?
ERIN: I love that they made monsters contemporary and that they gave a human element to each of them. It made them likable. And of course, since I love spiders, seeing a ton of them made me happy.
RYAN: Totally.
ERIN: It was cleverly written and cute and I think it would be good for all ages. It makes the monsters less scary so young kids can enjoy it but it’s also good enough for adults to be entertained.
RYAN: That’s key to family entertainment.
GABY: I liked it a lot. It was creative in how it wasn’t super scary but it was also really funny sometimes.
RYAN: Did you find any of it scary at all?
GABY: Only when the Daddy got angry but it was funny at the same time.
RYAN: What did you think, Noah?
NOAH: Well I’m a huge monster fan so I loved the whole movie. It was really funny and not all monster movies are funny.
RYAN: And you collect monster stuff like your Dad. What did you think of how the monsters looked and acted?
NOAH: I think they should have used the same clothes on them as in the real movies. But they were all really funny; but Frankenstein was my favorite.
GABY: It’s kind of like a real life story because of what happens between Dracula and his daughter. It’s very entertaining.
RYAN: I liked the flip how all the monsters were afraid of humans instead of the other way around. It’s a reversal.
RYAN: Great casting, animation. Music bits are used very well and there’s some cute action in it too. It’s a fun, quick movie for the whole family.
