Vampire sequel sinks teeth into colourful slapstick

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This article was published 25/09/2015 (3987 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s as rare as vampires on a beach to have a movie sequel be better than the original. But vampires might start looking for some sunglasses, because the spookiest thing about Hotel Transylvania 2 is how much funnier and more colourful it is this second time around.

There was nothing particularly wrong — or right — with the 2012 movie. It was just a series of lightweight jokes in a movie that’s main plus was proving Adam Sandler should be heard and not seen. His voicing of Dracula, a blood-drinking dad who is concerned about the love life of his daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez), was the only thing that stood out.

The action picks up with Mavis making Dracula a new vampa (vampire grandpa). Everyone is waiting to see if Dennis will be like his mom and sprout fangs or end up like his dad and be human. If Dennis doesn’t get his fangs by the time he turns five, it will be too late. Dracula plans to scare the monster into the infant.

One reason the film works so much better is that the action is divided between life in the monster and human worlds. Mavis starts to think it might be safer to raise Dennis in California.

This allows for some entertaining parallel comedy as Dracula and his motley crew learn their world has been modernized to the point they are more rock stars than feared creatures. The most terrifying thing is they live in a world where the really scary creatures are lawyers ready to sue if something goes wrong.

At the same time, Mavis is learning there are some weird creatures who haunt California.

Genndy Tartakovsy returns as director and he’s kicked up the energy. That’s not a ploy to cover for weakly written material. The script by Sandler and Robert Smigel blends some very funny slapstick comedy with some equally smart references for horror aficionados.

The director has layered the comedy so well, it’s difficult to see all of the hilarious material happening in the background through a single viewing. Any director of animation who adds these kinds of levels is giving the audience a bonus. And that bonus is very funny.

Hotel Transylvania 2 features many of the actors Sandler often uses in his movies. Most of the time they look as if all they care about is cashing a paycheque But in Hotel Transylvania 2, they come across as fresh because of the sharp animation and smart writing. The running gag of the Invisible Man claiming to have an Invisible Woman girlfriend works both as a solid joke and because David Spade brings just the right loser tone to the role.

Kevin James is another example — his Frankenstein is so much fun, he could survive in his own spinoff. But it would be a shame to break up this gang just when they have started to find their invisible, hairy, mummified and bloodless comedy legs.

Hotel Transylvania 2 is the kind of high-energy, colourful movie that will keep youngsters interested and entertained. At the same time, the humour is smart and the story sweet enough that parents won’t mind sitting through this tale.

It’s anything but blah, blah, blah.

— The Fresno Bee