Hotel Transylvania (2012) = A Nonlethal Varsity

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

I don’t know why, but when I get free stuff, my standards seem to be a lot lower.  This applies even when I have a wide range of selections to choose from.  Take Redbox.  Occasionally, I get codes for free movies, but the codes have to be used that day.  One of the problems with Redbox is that I can’t always get my first choice.  Sometimes, I can’t even get my second or third choice.  Since I’m already at the kiosk, wasting the code seems like a bad idea.  Even if I don’t like the movie, I’ll get a review out of it.

Hotel Transylvania was such a title.  I’m not a huge fan of Adam Sandler.  I knew going into this that he voiced Dracula, but he was at least tolerable in Click, so I figured that I’d give Hotel Transylvania a chance.  If you’re reading this, it means that I’ve gotten my review out of it and have commenced forgetting about the movie.

The story is that Dracula wants to protect his daughter, Mavis.  He hasn’t had the best of luck with humans.  Most monsters are of similar mind, so Dracula opened Hotel Transylvania.  The idea was that he’d build it someplace that humans wouldn’t know about and would set things up so that they wouldn’t want to go there even if they stumbled upon it.

Well, everyone’s coming over for Mavis’s 118th birthday celebration and wouldn’t you know it, a human named Johnny happens to stumble upon the hotel.  (Actually, he follows some monsters back from Dracula’s ill-advised attempt to trick Mavis into staying at the hotel.)  Anyway, Dracula notices Johnny before anyone else does.  Killing him outright is out of the question.  He can’t have him stay, though, for fear of upsetting the guests.  Sneaking him out proves problematic, so Dracula tries to hide Johnny as a long-lost relative of the right arm of Frankenstein’s monster, Johnny Stein.  Every attempt to deal with Johnny causes further complications, eventually leading to Johnny meeting (and falling for) Mavis.

This is what makes up most of the movie’s 91 minutes.  It’s Dracula being an overprotective father and making a few mistakes along the way, then having to fix them in the end when he realizes what it will really take to make his daughter happy.  Along the way, you have a lot of familiar monsters, at least in name.  You have Wayne the Wolfman, Frankenstein’s Monster, Eunice (a.k.a. Bride of Frankenstein), Quasimodo, the Invisible Man and so on.  I don’t think any of them act the way that they did in the movie.  Frankenstein is very friendly, for instance, even if he does fall apart on occasion.  Wayne is also normal father that tries to provide for his wife and many children.

It was a good movie, but it wasn’t great.  The one big drawback was Fran Drescher.  Had I known she was in the movie, I probably would have rented something else.  As with Sandler, I’m not particularly a big fan.  She wasn’t bad in this movie, but knowing that both were in this movie probably would have killed it.  There were a lot of people that I did like, such as Steve Buscemi, CeeLo Green and Jon Lovitz.

I also wasn’t a big fan of the style of animation.  It was a little exaggerated for me.  As I said, I was renting this for free, so I figured I’d at least try it.  However, animation is already a strike for some people.  Even for those that like animation, they may not like this style.  There were also a few scary moments when Dracula tried to intimidate Johnny.  It wasn’t wet-your-pants scary, but I was caught off guard and thought that it was a little out of place for a comedy.  We’re talking a few shots, a second or two each.

Ultimately, I have to learn to be more selective the next time I go to Redbox.   I think part of the problem with Redbox is that I tend to feel a little rushed and given the limited selection, I usually get the first thing that seems safe rather than take my time to find something I like.  Getting a movie like Hotel Transylvania is the result.  It wasn’t a horrible movie, but it wasn’t a great movie, either. 

IMDb page

Frankenweenie (2012)

Note:  This review was originally posted to my Epinions account.

When I looked to see if Frankenweenie was available to review on Epinions, I was surprised to find out that it wasn’t.  What I found was the original, 1984 version that Tim Burton also made.  Both movies are based on an idea of Burton’s.  The 1984 version was written by Leonard Ripps and ran for only 29 minutes.  In 2012, Burton decided to make a feature-length version, this time written by John August.  (Epinions has the 1984 version listed, which I think may have prevented the 2012 version from being automatically added.)  Anyway, I’ll be reviewing the 2012 version as I haven’t seen the original short yet.

The movie is about a boy named Victor Frankenstein.  He loves science, making movies and above all else, his dog, Sparky.  His father wants him to find new things to love, as most parents would.  Victor keeps to himself, mostly, so his father gets him on to a baseball team.  This leads to a tragic accident that takes the life of Sparky.  Victor is devastated.  However, without this accident, we wouldn’t have a movie.  You see, it isn’t long before Victor’s favorite teacher, Mr. Rzykruski, inspires him with a demonstration of how an electric shock can make a frog’s leg move.  Victor gets the idea to reanimate Sparky.

This is one of those movies where everything goes right, making everything else go wrong.  The reanimation works, but Victor has to keep it a secret, even from his own family.  What would everyone think?  After all, people named Frankenstein don’t have the best track record with reanimated corpses.  This goes well until Sparky gets out and is seen by Edgar “E” Gore.  Pretty soon, many of Victor’s classmates want in on the action.  There’s a science fair coming up and a reanimated corpse would make for a great project.  Each of the classmates wants to reanimate various animals like sea monkeys.  It‘s up to Victor and Sparky to save the day.

This movie is not for everyone.  Tim Burton is one of those directors that is a bit unusual.  He’s directed Dark Shadows, Corpse Bride, Mars Attacks! and Edward Scissorhands to give you an idea.  (There’s also Big Fish and the 2001 remake of Planet of the Apes, which are a bit more mainstreamish.)  Also, the movie is stop motion.  This may turn off some people and interest others.  The movie is a bit dark for smaller children.  You don’t see Sparky killed, but there’s no doubt what happens.  It should be safe for teens and up.

I had gotten this movie through Redbox while my brother was in town.  We had both wanted to see it, so I took the opportunity to use a free code that I had gotten through Checkpoints.  I wasn’t disappointed.  I kind of knew what to expect.  I have no problem with animated features and I’ve liked a few of Tim Burton’s films.  I caught a few references to other pet- and horror-related things.  If you look in the pet cemetery, there’s a turtle named Shelly and a Goodbye Kitty, among other things.  (Not everyone will catch these, so pay attention.)  There are a few other characters, like an Elsa Van Helsing, as well.

The movie had been released in 3-D in theaters.  I would have liked to see the movie this way, but I don’t know if there’s any easy, convenient way of doing this for a video release.  I know you can get durable blue-red stereoscopic glasses for a few dollars, but I don’t know how many people are going to order them when relatively few movies are released in 3-D.  Maybe one day, I’ll get the chance.

IMDb page