Anthomation Assesses Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

Howdy guys, Anthomaton here. Today I shall give you my thoughts on Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania is a 2021 animated film produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Amazon Studios. It is the fourth and final installment in the Hotel Transylvania franchise and the sequel to Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018). Originally planned to be released theatrically in the United States on October 1, 2021, Sony Pictures Releasing cancelled the film’s release plans and sold the film’s distribution rights to Amazon Studios for $100 million, due to rising cases of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant in the United States. The film was released exclusively on Amazon Prime Video on January 14, 2022. The film received mixed reviews from critics.

Van Helsing’s mysterious new invention transforms Drac and his pals into humans, and Johnny into a monster. With their new mismatched bodies, Drac and the pack must find a way to switch themselves back before their transformations become permanent.

Overall Thoughts:

The film left a lot to be desired. First off, the plot line to this film is extremely lazy. I mean, monsters and humans switch places. That’s it?! That is what the brilliant minds at Sony came up with?! And it’s not like the rest of the film tries much harder. The comedy is downright embarrassing with unfunny gags that overstay their welcome and characters in situations that the audience does not care for them to be in. The only joke that cracked me up was when Dracula saw the Hotel completely destroyed and, out of pure anger, shrinks a mutated guinea pig back to its original size. Other than that, nothing. Also, the characters are extremely forgettable. Seriously, I’ve watched all three of the previous Hotel Transylvania films, and I forget that half of these characters even existed. This franchise clearly is running on the same fumes that the Ice Age or Despicable Me franchises were running on. That is being overcrowded with characters that the fanbase has either gotten sick of or just does not care about. And then there is the animation. This has been the driving force of the series. With its upbeat and zany nature, it is what has supplied the overwhelming majority of Hotel’s life. With that said, there seemed to have been a downgrade. The timing seems a little tired and/or off on the gags and the uniqueness of each character’s persona has disappeared. In the earlier films, every character moved differently and that could tell us about who they really were. Here, every character moves the same. So if the animators do not care about making any of these characters stand out, then why should we? This film is an immediate skip for all movie goers alike. The diehard Hotel Transylvania fans might find some things that are likeable, but that is about it.

Score:

3.5/10