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Release Date
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October 5, 2022
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Running Time
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29:42
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Video
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(We see the Channel Awesome. As per tradition, there is a new Nostalgiaween title sequence. This time, parodying the opening to "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" NC is Shaggy, Chaplin is Scooby, Buster is Scrappy, Bill is Fred, Aiyanna is Daphne and Hyper Fangirl is Velma. A cauldron of bats flies past a run down mansion, and a ghostly mist emerges from one of the windows, forming "Nostalgiaween 2022".)
Singers: ♫ Whoopie-doopie-doo, Nostalgiaween ♫
♫ We're ready for some new shows ♫
(The gang walks past a bookcase, which slides open to reveal a hidden passage. From behind it, two figures who look like Heather Reusz as Jubilee and Zack Snyder as Gambit peek out.)
Singers: ♫ Whoopie-doopie-doo, Nostalgiaween ♫
♫ Bring on the spooks and scarecrows ♫
(As Aiyanna walks away, the Grinch tries to grab her, but misses. We then see Bill falling through a secret door.)
Singers: ♫ What's that on the screen ♫
♫ Can it be? ♫
(An extreme close-up of the Critic's face, and then it's revealed that they are looking at Casper the friendly ghost.)
Singers: ♫ New blood and bad CGI ♫
(The gang is shown running down a hallway, and then we are shown a close-up of Jared Leto's Joker before pulling back to show the Critic shaking in Bill's arms.)
Singers: ♫ But you're not fooling Critic ♫
♫ Cuz he can see ♫
(The gang is shown running again.)
Singers: ♫ This movie will make him cry ♫
(The Critic is sliding down the hallway on roller skates, and he passes pictures of the Bugle Monster, King Ramses, and of course, Freaky Fred hanging on the walls. He finally crashes into the bathroom at the end of the hallway, landing in the tub and getting showered. A few beer cans are on the floor, and the words "BALLOONS" and "TMNT" are written on the walls.)
Singers: ♫ Cuz we've got Stephen King's films planned out ♫
(We cut to Chaplin and Buster laughing and snickering.)
Chaplin: I'm laughing.
(Hyper Fangirl gasps, and Bill glances over his shoulder. We see the evil Spirit from The Care Bears Movie and the Snowman from Christmas with the Kranks before showing the Critic quaking in Hyper Fangirl's arms.)
Singers: ♫ And the Critic's got his drinks in his hat ♫
♫ Not gold brand ♫
(Dinosaur Rob is then shown sitting at a kitchen table before we cut to Critic running from inside a barrel.)
Singers: ♫ And you can count on Buster and Chaplin ♫
♫ Malcolm, Tamara who's got the Critic's back ♫
♫ Something like that ♫
(The Critic suddenly runs into a strange figure, and he pokes his head out of the barrel to see that it's Shyamalan.)
Singers: ♫ Yippee-ki-yay, Nostalgiaween ♫
(We see Hyper Fangirl going into shock, and Aiyanna shushing her. The camera then focuses on Doug Funnie and the Arnold Schwarzenegger baby before showing the Critic dashing into yet another room and slamming the door.)
Singers: ♫ They'll ask me where's the Critic ♫
(The gang is seen looking at a book, and they suddenly glance up at the camera.)
Singers: ♫ The Nostalgia Critic remembers it ♫
♫ So we don't have to! ♫
("Nostalgiaween 2022" is shown again, and there is an explosion before fading in to the start of the episode.)
NC: Hello, I’m the Nostalgia Critic. I remember it, so you don’t have to. And welcome to Nostalgiaween, and I can't think of a better way to kick thing off than with a movie series that's over ten years old if you can believe it: Hotel Transylvania!
(The title card from the first film comes up. Clips from the films start playing.)
NC (vo): Released in 2012 and directed by animation legend Genndy Tartakovsky (a poster for Primal is superimposed), I have no problem bragging that I was one of the few critics who really liked this film when it first came out. I guess on one hand, I can see why some people were turned off to it. It had the same cast as a lot of bad films made by Adam Sandler's production company, Happy Madison Studios. But contrary to what some believe, it's not a Happy Madison production.
(Back to NC.)
NC: You can tell by the fact that it's funny.
NC (vo): Okay, yeah. I've ripped on Adam Sandler films a lot, but I've made it clear he's made some movies I really like. And this series is among them. The minute I saw the trailer for this film, I thought it looked clever and knew if it did well, it could be a new staple for Halloween films.
(Back to NC.)
NC: I mean, look at it. It literally screams Halloween!
NC (vo): But that would mean nothing if the characters in writing weren't fantastic.
(Back to NC.)
NC: And thankfully, they're...pretty good.
NC (vo): Yeah, I'm not gonna pretend these are masterpieces, but what works in them does have staying power and makes them stand out even years later.
Hotel Transylvania[]
NC (vo): The original centers around Count Dracula, played by Adam Sandler, and his daughter Mavis, played by Selena Gomez. They live in Hotel Transylvania, which Drac built for his daughter to keep her away from the dangers of humans. The idea works so well, that other monsters start showing up, enjoying long vacations away from those frightfully scary humans who -- you guessed it -- are seen as the monsters in this world. When a traveler named Johnny, played by Andy Samberg, stumbles upon the hotel, Dracula tries not to cause a panic and disguises him as a monster. Though ironically, he starts to panic when he sees Johnny and Mavis start to fall in love. Okay, so much of this is very standard storytelling -- the overprotective father, young love, quirky side characters... The only real new element is that it's done with Halloween monsters in a hotel, which even that seems like a variation of (shots of...) Beetlejuice or Monsters, Inc. where a supposedly scary world is given the modern bureaucracy-ish take.
(Back to NC.)
NC: What makes this movie work, though, is its energy and knowing when to turn it up and when to tone it down.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania.)
NC (vo): I think people really underestimate how good the animation is in this movie. Yes, there's a lot of animated films that look more realistic (a shot from the Lion King remake is shown) or have more believable textures (a shot from Raya and the Last Dragon is shown), but not only the designs in this great -- I mean, you're not gonna confuse these monsters with anyone else's take on these monsters -- but everyone has an exaggerated yet unique way of moving. I love how Dracula will move at the speed of light, but his upper half is usually still. This makes a move quick and precise like a hunter, but also makes for great comedy when he has to hide something. Johnny's always hunched over like he's either checking his phone or leaning in to check out something new, which makes sense, being a young traveler. Mavis is much more grounded in movement because she doesn't experience many dangers, but she still has the restrained energy of someone who wants to break free. The mummy always sways like an "S" or a hieroglyphic; the werewolf barely moves because his family exhausts him -- these are all subtle touches that are turned up to eleven when you factor in the hyperactive comedy.
(Back to NC.)
NC: This movie is very fast yet creative with its shots, usually throwing a lot at you in every second.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania.)
NC (vo): Factoring in this movie came out over ten years ago, it honestly moves like an animated comedy that would come out today. Maybe eve faster. But what might be a little surprising about this film to some people is that despite it being about some of the most famous monsters of all time...
(Back to NC.)
NC: ...it's actually kinda sweet.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania.)
NC (vo): It has elements of dark humor, which I think certainly helps give it a touch of an edge. But because of that, it does make you realize the friendlier/kind of cornier scenes are intentional. This isn't a move that doesn't know how to be dark, it lets you know full well that it can. But a lot of the time, it chooses not to.
(Back to NC.)
NC: And if it's done well and effectively, there's nothing wrong with that.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania.)
NC (vo): The film's not really cynical or mean-spirited, yet it's still very funny with a lot of clever jokes thrown in. Some for kids, some for adults, and may for both.
(One of the living suits of armor is shown getting kicked in the crotch.)
Marshall (suit of armor): Oh! Why did that hurt me?
(Slideshows of overweight people are shown.)
Dracula: They are getting fatter so as to overpower us.
(A female skeleton taking a shower gasps.)
Dracula: My mistake!
Male Skeleton: What is wrong with you people? (Dracula gets hit with a loofah.)
(Dracula and Jonathan are walking down a hallway.)
Jonathan: Is that real? About the garlic thing?
Dracula: Yes.
Jonathan: Wooden stake to the heart?
Dracula: Yeah, well, who wouldn't that kill?
NC (vo): I like when I first show this film to people, they don't catch on that's Adam Sandler as Dracula. Okay, it's not an amazingly disguised voice or anything, but for a guy whose idea of a character is high-pitched gibberish... (a shot of Bobby Boucher, Sandler's character in The Waterboy, is shown) ...a lot of people I show this to don't pick him out in the role. Admittedly, it is an odd choice, but I kinda dig it, as no other Dracula really sounds like him. And he's able to work both the comedic and heartfelt moments very well.
(Back to NC.)
NC: When the film needs to be serious, it doesn't do it too long, but just long enough.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania.)
NC (vo): The movie will stop to have a quiet moment with emotional lighting, and the actors play it with real conviction. It never feels half-assed. We've seen family films with dead parents a million times, and -- like I said -- a lot of other conventional clichés this movie is utilizing. But because the film got us to enjoy these people and laugh along with them, we legit feel for them when they talk about their losses.
Dracula: As a father, you'll do everything to keep your family safe...even if you have to break their trust.
NC (vo): It's familiar, but in the realm they've created, it's believable. There's a nice moment of animation where Mavis sees a little bit of the sun. I feel like a more manipulative movie would ever cry or hug Johnny or something like that, but she's just hypnotized like in another world. And again, that's believable and makes sense for this scene, resulting in a really nice moment. I love this ending, too, where you think the big thing is Frankie getting his grove back and scaring the villagers, but the villagers instead cheer him on and they discover people actually kind of accept them now. (Dracula is shown smiling.) Look at that smile on his face, knowing even when he has to hide, he doesn't have to hide. I'm sorry, this movie is crazy likable.
(Back to NC.)
NC: Does everything work? I guess not.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania.)
NC (vo): There are tropes of the time, like it has to end with a dance party, a few dated references here and there, and once in a while, there's a joke or odd character moment that might be done a little awkwardly. But I don't know. I felt a spark with this movie when I first saw it. I just knew it was going to be something that people watched every year around this time. This easily could've been direct-to-DVD quality... (the poster for Norm of the North is superimposed) ...but they turned in something that tried much harder than it needed to. Again, it's not flawless, but it delivers on everything it promises. It's funny, it's heartwarming, it's creative, it's surrounded in most things we associate with Halloween or classic monsters, and it has something for both kids and adults. Thankfully, the public agreed, because three years later, a sequel was made. (We are shown the poster for Hotel Transylvania 2.) And another. (Then the poster for Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.) And another. (And lastly, the poster for Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.) How did they fare?
(Back to NC.)
NC: Well, like this film, it's a little bit of everything, good...and bad. I'll fill you in after this.
(Critic snaps his fingers, and vanishes in a burst of fiery sparks. We go to a commercial break and the sponsor, and when we return...)
Hotel Transylvania 2[]
NC (vo): In 2015, Hotel Transylvania 2 was released. Most of the same team came back and, once again, based on the critics score, I was expecting this to be a lackluster film. I mean, Not only is it a sequel, it's an Adam Sandler sequel. Surely this is where things must go awry. When I saw it, I kept waiting for the movie to go south and give me absolute garbage moments.
(Back to NC.)
NC: But thankfully, those moments never came to me.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 2.)
NC (vo): I guess there were...underwhelming moments, but I actually saw this as a damn decent follow-up to the original. It continued the story, not just repeating the last one, it upped the humor, expanded the world, and still had the same amount of energy, comedy, and heart that the previous one did. The story centers around Mavis and Johnny getting married and giving birth to their son named Dennis. When Dracula discovers that Dennis might be half vampire, him and the boys try to help him discover his inner monster, but find their usual and literal camping grounds are not quite what they remember them to be. Johnny distracts Mavis by taking her on vacation, and all this is being done while trying to keep the news of Dennis being half human from Dracula's father Vlad, played by Mel Brooks.
Vlad: I raised my son to hate and kill and steal the souls of humans like a good boy.
NC (vo): Despite Vlad having a great design, and a great name, for that matter, I am glad he's kept out of the picture until the last third. If it was just a "keeping a secret around the house" story, I think I would've hated it. But having them travel to their old stomping grounds and constantly being disappointed only gets better when they return home to find he's there. You know inevitably, Mavis has to find out about their scheme, but in keeping with the movie's humor, that's not the end of the joke. We hear Drac jokingly saying some harsh things about her mothering, and you know that's gonna make it back to her in one way or another. But the way it does is amazing. It isn't just a recording she plays back for him, but it's a music video somebody made after it was posted online for millions to see, and it shows him repeating the insult over and over.
(Mavis shows the YouTube video on her phone. It's not only a remix of the quarreling between Dracula and the camp counselor and Dennis jumping the tower, but there are also brief shots of Cesar Romero's Joker from the 1960's Batman TV show and Gene Wilder's Dr. Frankenstein from the Mel Brooks movie Young Frankenstein.)
Music video: His mother's already ah-kee-kee-a cuckoo! Ah-kee-ooh-ah-ee-ah cuckoo!
(Back to NC.)
NC: That is so many layers of humiliation, it's hysterical.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 2.)
NC (vo): On the other hand, I guess I can kind of see where some people might be turned off, they still have a dance number at the end. They have an even more pointless one near the beginning.
Dracula: What's that? The Electric Boogaloo? If I show you I can bust a move, will you try and fly then?
(A series of question marks appear onscreen.)
NC (vo): And the climax certainly has a lot of energy for kids, but not really many laughs for adults. But still, all the movie has to focus on is what these characters would naturally do in these situations, because these are very naturally funny characters. When something goes wrong, it's fun to see all the different ways they'll react and usually make things worse. Most of the heartfelt moments still work, too. It's pretty adorable when Dracula looks at his daughter during the wedding and sees her once again as a little kid. The fact that Vlad is persuaded in a pretty timely matter shows he does value his family. Even the connection between Dennis and the Wolf man's daughter (Winnie Werewolf) is pretty freaking precious. This was just a throwaway character in the last one, but seeing her interact with him is pretty damn cute.
(We are shown a scene where Winnie is having a tea party with Dennis. The tray has a tea set and a dead pigeon.)
Winnie: Enjoy it. Because once I graduate business school and start running a company, you're not gonna get home-cooked meals like this anymore.
NC (vo): Again, I can't pretend this is a fantastic sequel. I mean, the original is better, but I've seen so many bad follow-ups or phoned-in family films or "here we go again" stories that I really do give credit when a sequel comes through the way it should. It has new jokes. It evolves the characters rather than devolve them. It has what we liked about the original, but it doesn't just do the same thing again. It adds new elements.
(Back to NC.)
NC: Honestly, when I watch Hotel Transylvania around Halloween, I do usually put this on soon after.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 2.)
NC (vo): It pairs perfectly with the original, giving you what a sequel like this promises. I guess it didn't win everyone over, but it definitely won me over.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation[]
NC: And I guess it won enough people over, because another three years later, they made the second sequel, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.
(Footage from Hotel Transylvania 3 is shown.)
NC (vo): As you probably assume, this was the first one to come out during Summer instead of during Halloween. This was also first film to finally win the majority of critics over.
(The review for Hotel Transylvania 3 is shown. Back to NC.)
NC: So me being a contrarian dick, I didn't like it.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): First off, I'm not the biggest fan of family properties that are meant to be one thing but then randomly go on Summer vacations, whether it matches or not. (The posters for the following are shown: The Even Stevens Movie, The Proud Family Movie, Cheaper by the Dozen 2, The Addams Family 2, and Lego Star Wars: Summer Vacation.) But then again... (a shot of Wednesday Addams holding lit matches is shown) ...Addams Family Values did something similar, and that was pretty great, so maybe it's just a nitpick.
(Back to NC.)
NC: My biggest issue with the movie is...I just didn't find it that funny.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): A shame, because the premise is actually pretty clever. Dracula is told he stays inside the hotel too much, and he should go out and see the world. The family plans a monster cruise for him, but little do they know that the famous vampire hunter Van Helsing, played by Jim Gaffigan, is trying to hunt down the famous vampire with his daughter Ericka, played by Kathryn Hahn -- yes, these movies still have great casting -- trying to woo down old Drac so that she can kill him. But she may discover the more she pretends to fall in love with him, the more she might actually fall in love with him. Yeah, again, nothing phenomenally original, but it has promising ideas. And again, it isn't a repeat of the previous stories.
(Back to NC.)
NC: This one relies a lot on slapstick, though, and sadly, it isn't that great.
(The climax from Hotel Transylvania 2 is shown with the werewolf kids fighting Bela, before going back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): Maybe a lot of kids really liked the climax of the last film, and they said, "Hey, let's make the whole entire third movie that." The energy is still there, and I'm sure little kids would enjoy how constantly bouncy it is, but that's just it. It is constant.
(The scene from Hotel Transylvania where a disguised Jonathan confronts Quasimodo is shown, before going back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): Where the other films had a lot of energy but would pace it out with a variety of moods, this one is just always moving, always active, and you get desensitized to it after a while. Remember where everyone had a unique way of moving in the other films? Here, everyone moves the same. I don't really look forward to what Drac, Mavis, Johnny, Frankie, or the Wolfman's reactions are gonna be, because it's the same as everybody's -- hyper, over-the-top.
(Back to NC.)
NC: Strange addition in every movie. Or should I say, subtraction?
(Shots of Dracula from each of the films are shown, each one showing how less detailed his design has become.)
NC (vo): Because the character designs seem to be getting simpler. I thought with every passing movie, the animation was supposed to get more detailed. But each one seems to simplify it even more.
(The end credits of Hotel Transylvania 3 are shown in 2D animation. Then the 3D animation of the previous two films is shown for contrast.)
NC (vo): Tartakovsky is certainly more familiar with hand-drawn animation, and that's one of the things I like about the films. It's the speed, expressions and designs of 2D, but the details, weight and mass of 3D. Like, the 2D is the exaggerated part, but the 3D is the grounded reality. So when something hits, you really feel the hit.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): In this one, they look so simple and so flat that nothing appears to have any weight to it. They all move like deflated balloons. They don't really appear that solid. So anything that happens to them isn't gonna appear as painful, and therefore, not as funny. Maybe it was a time and budget thing, or maybe they were just more comfortable making them look flatter. But either way, the animation didn't get across the size and scale that the other movies did.
(Back to NC.)
NC: And yeah, were you annoyed by the dance numbers at the end of the other films? Oh, wait.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): There's a scene where a giant sea monster (Kraken) has to be defeated by finding the catchiest song to play. And this already sounds pretty gimmicky, but maybe we're about to see the next Kate Bush Stranger Things moment. I don't know. (We are shown an image from the Stranger Things episode "Dear Billy" with Maxine "Max" Mayfield listening to "Running Up That Hill".) Well, it is anything but that.
(Back to NC.)
NC: The song they play and dance out to is the goddamn "Macarena".
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 3. Jonathan is dancing and moving along to the song.)
Los Del Rio: ♪ Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Macarena. Hey Macarena, ay! ♪
(Back to NC.)
NC: (disgusted) Jesus, even when the song was popular, it was the worst.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): Maybe that's the joke. Like it's so bad, and that's why it's so funny these characters are dancing to it. But I don't know. The only one annoyed by it at first is the grandpa (Vlad), and even he gets into it. Maybe it's like Vanilla Ice dancing in Ninja Turtles II? (A shot of Vanilla Ice dancing with Michelangelo is shown.) Like, oh, it's so cringy you gotta love it, but...
(Back to NC.)
NC: Yeah, this really doesn't work for me!
(Footage from the dance number from the first film is shown before going back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): Say what you will about the other dance sequences, but they had energy, and some freaking original music. I honestly couldn't believe I was seeing what I was seeing with this. Why the Macarena? Of all the laughably lame songs you picked, why was it the one that wasn't laughably lame, it was just lame lame? Who the hell would enjoy this piece of -- (The number of YouTube views for the DJ battle scene is shown: a surprising 215 million views as of the time this review was made!) Holy shit! Is that an "M" next to those views?
(Back to NC.)
NC: (pause) Okay, I guess somebody made the right call!
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): Maybe they just leaned into entertaining little kids and found the bounciest thing they'd want to watch over and over. I mean, okay, sure, I guess it is a kids' movie too, but...
(Back to NC.)
NC: That's all it felt like now -- a kid's movie.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania 3.)
NC (vo): And sure, if I hadn't seen the other two, maybe I would've found this passable. But I did see the other two, like most people should if there's a "3" in the title! Obviously, you're supposed to see the other ones! And this just didn't seem on the same caliber. I guess it seemed to make a fair amount of people happy. (The 215M view count is shown again.) I mean... God's butt, that's a fair amount of people! But for me, it just didn't have the same ghoulish magic as before.
Hotel Transylvania: Transformania[]
NC: But I guess they figured they had one more go in them, because we were given the final sequel, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.
(Footage from Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is shown.)
NC (vo): Released... (the year "2022" appears onscreen) ...this year, actually -- yeah, a lot of people forget this was even a thing. It's like January movies have a bad reputation. This was the first one not released in theaters, but instead on Amazon. It's also the first one not directed by Tartakovsky and the first one not to have Adam Sandler as Dracula. In a pretty cool move...
(We are shown a picture of Brian Hull.)
NC (vo): ...they got a pretty cool YouTuber who went viral impersonating Sandler's Dracula, Brian Hull. And given credit, if you didn't tell me they switched him out, I'm not sure I would've noticed.
(We are shown a comparison between Sandler and Hull's voiceovers. The text is shown to tell whose voice is whose.)
Dracula (Sandler): You could spend the entire day pulling them out and placing them.
Dracula (Hull): Now it's time to start the actual planned part of the celebration.
Dracula (Sandler): Oh ho ho, did you see that? Who is that guy, Sir Breaks-a-Lot?
Dracula (Hull): Oh, hey, Mavy-Wavy. Just making a couple of tiny adjustments.
NC (vo): He did a pretty damn good job, not just getting down the impression, but also the jokes and emotional moments. It was a good choice on the studio's part. With that said, this seemed to be the film that audiences and critics... (the review of Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is shown) ...finally agreed on, and...not in a good way. It wasn't hated, but it really wasn't liked either.
(Back to NC.)
NC: I...guess I found it okay.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.)
NC (vo): The story is, Dracula is gonna retire as the owner of the hotel and hand it over to Mavis and Johnny. When he hears Johnny's plans for the hotel, though, he freaks out and makes up a real estate law that says only monsters can own it. To fix the problem, Johnny asks for the help of Van Helsing...who I...guess is a good guy now...oh, I don't care, he moves through his lab pretty funny...and he turns Johnny into a monster to help him out.
(Jonathan gets zapped with the Monsterfication Ray and is transformed into a dragon-like creature.)
NC (vo): But it doesn't stop there. The device accidentally transforms Drac and his friends into -- you guessed it -- humans. Van Helsing says the only way to change them back is to find a crystal for his device hidden in the jungle, and that's exactly what Drac and Johnny set out to do. Friendships being formed, only for lies to come forward and misunderstandings abundance arise?
(Back to NC.)
NC: Yeah, but it's not as bad as you'd think. Eventually.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.)
NC (vo): So, one of the interesting criticisms I find a lot of these films have is kids really seem to like Johnny, and adults really don't.
(Several scenes from each of the movies featuring Jonathan are shown.)
NC (vo): Johnny is a silly doofus who's very loud and energetic. Children, of course, love that and most grown-ups find it okay as long as he's kept in check and not overstaying his welcome.
(Back to NC.)
NC: This film? He's the main focus, so of course he overstays his welcome.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.)
NC (vo): Having him and Drac alone is not a great idea. Plus, we're focusing on something we've already focused on before: Drac being okay with Johnny. In terms of emotions, there's not a lot here. The first third is also really rough to get through. It's a lot of zany slapstick of the previous film turned up even wackier.
(A scene from the Tom and Jerry episode "The Bodyguard" is shown.)
NC (vo): I kind of felt like Tom writing his will for his forthcoming death. Like you know there's no way out of it.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.)
NC (vo): As the film goes on, though, and we see Dracula getting used to being human and even Johnny getting used to being a monster, it does slowly get better. The other monsters getting used to their lives as powerless humans is so pretty entertaining. Honestly, the transformation stuff easily is the best part of the film. It is fun to see the Bizarro versions of these characters. It's kind of like seeing the main leads in (a still of...) Shrek 2 as their opposites. It's a neat role reversal. The jokes are very hit-and-miss. Like I said, in the first third, it's a lot of misses. But once the story actually gets going, they realize just letting these characters be themselves in these funny situations is enough. They don't need to force that much.
(Back to NC.)
NC: On that note, when we get to the part of the "liar reveal" story where the liar is revealed, it is pretty lame, but it's also pretty quick.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.)
NC (vo): And they do still work in a lot of creative sequences. Probably my favorite is when Mavis has to get through this cave as the sun is rising and all the hotel members come together to shield her. The animation is so precise and creative, it's kind of worth the price alone in my opinion. As you can tell, the movements of the characters seem unique for the individuals again. Like in the previous film, I feel like Mavis would just crawl behind these kids distorting her body, because that's how all the characters moved. But in this one, they have her turn into a bat because that's not how she moves in this movie. Little additions like that do make a difference and eventually add up. On that note, this is probably is the cheapest looking of the films. My guess is, this one had the smallest budget, but it looks like a movie that's still utilizing everything ti can. Like, it doesn't have as much as the previous films, but it's gotta make the most of it.
(Back to NC.)
NC: And, yeah, maybe that's the best way to describe it.
(Back to Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.)
NC (vo): My guess is, this was made during COVID, and I'm sure going to Amazon, there were production issues left and right. But it looks like they tried their best and made what I think is a...passable flick.
(Back to NC.)
NC: Is it a great ending to what I think is a great series? No, but I guess it's better than the last one.
(Footage from all Hotel Transylvania movies is shown as NC prepares to wrap things up.)
NC (vo): I guess I can't be angry it went out on just an okay note, because it's honestly impressive we got as much creativity as we did. I think a lot of people looked at the cast the fact that it was a slapstick cartoon and assumed it was going to be for the lowest common denominator. But I think these movies tried much harder than people expected and gave us more laughs than maybe even the producers were expecting. These films are still being watched every Halloween, and even the versions I don't think are all that great aren't awful, I think they're just passable kids' movies where the others seem better for being for both kids and adults. I know in some ways, it seems like a strange series to praise, but I like classic Halloween monsters, and I like good writing that knows how to have fun with them. I'm sure they're not everybody's thing, but I think for people who enjoy the sugar high of Halloween while also laughing and celebrating their favorite monsters will get a kick out of them.
(Back to NC.)
NC: They're not perfect films, but they're perfect fun.
NC (vo): Kids can admire the bouncy, fast-paced energy, and adults can admire the in-jokes and artistic designs of the world and characters. With that said, what are your thoughts? Do you think these are just annoying children's films to put on to shut your kids up, or do you think there's a lot more to 'em? Do you think they get better? Think they get worse? Like all of them? Hate all of them? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and perhaps I'll see you the next time you check in.
Dracula: Welcome to Hotel Transylvania!
(Back to NC.)
NC: I'm the Nostalgia Critic, and Nostalgiaween has just begun! (He laughs, then throws down a smoke bomb. When the smoke disperses, his head is replaced with Chaplin's.) I'm Boo.
Channel Awesome Tagline: Jonathan: Wooden stake to the heart?
Dracula: Yeah, well, who wouldn't that kill?
(The credits roll.)