Movie Review - Hotel Transylvania 2

Hotel Transylvania 2 **** (out of 5) (PG) Longtime readers have seen many complaints here about “sequel dropoff”, which seems almost inevitable from decades of producers taking one more trip to the well than the material supports because the previous edition(s) created a base of familiarity that makes the new product easier to promote. This rating includes gratitude for the pleasant surprise of Round 2 of this feature-length ‘toon seeming at least as funny and energetic as its progenitor, if not moreso. Dracula’s daughter now marries her slacker human beau from the first; they have a son, who granddaddy hopes will turn out to be one of his kind, rather than a mere mortal. The premise is that fangs should pop out by age five, if ever they will. Fast-forward to the days before that birthday.

Drac and his son-in-law also want the young family to stay in the family business (the hotel catering to monsters in the first, now having broadened its marketing base to adventurous humans), while the daughter wants their child to embrace his human roots by moving to California where her in-laws live.

The comedy embraces all age levels with clever dialog - groaner puns, to hip satiric lines - while the screen overflows with colorful, adorable “monsters” and madcap pacing. 3-D makes a nice, but non-essential perk. The talented voice cast returns from the first with a couple of bonus additions - especially the one playing Drac’s old-school father, Vlad. Thankfully, this sequel greatly exceeded my expectations from these Children of the Night, their children, friends and fiends. (9/25/15)