We took Boo and Girlie Bear out to see Hotel Transylvania this afternoon.  It’s a classic story of an over-protective father, a rebellious teenage daughter, a slacker boyfriend, and a hotel full of monsters and ghouls.  Hijinks ensue, and we all learn a valuable lesson about how people are people and that true love conquers all.  Queue really bad musical number just prior to the closing credits.

The movie centers around the life of Count Dracula, voiced by Adam Sandler, and his daughter Mavis, voiced by Selena Gomez.  Dracula has constructed the titular hotel as a refuge for his daughter and other monsters to get away from the crowds of pitchfork and torch bearing humans that dog their steps.  Mavis is becoming an adult at the tender age of 118, and is anxious to get out and see the world beyond the hotel’s walls.  Enter Jonathan, a slacker who’s bumming around the world with his backpack and a bad haircut.  The Count tries to get rid of Jonathan without killing him, but unfortunately for the Prince of the Undead, Jonathan and Mavis hit it off.

If you’re a fan of Adam Sandler’s old bits where he voiced an old Jewish guy, you’ll like Count Dracula.  Honestly, I’m not a Sandler fan, but he didn’t take things too far in this one, so his character was enjoyable.  The other actors made for a good ensemble cast, with voices coming from the likes of Kevin James and David Spade for some of the other monsters.

The animation was pretty good.  It wasn’t quite as good as I would have expected if this had been a Pixar movie, but it wasn’t too cartoony.   The various monsters and how they moved and interacted was extremely well done.  The sight gags in the movie were outstanding.

The music in the movie was understated and did a good job highlighting the moods in the story.  There was a horrible rap/dance sing-along at the end, but it was more of a way to wrap up the movie than as a device to move along a story.

Was this a great movie?  No.  Was it a good movie?  Depends on what you’re looking for.  It was a fun piece of bubble gum to chew on for a while and then let go.  It was worth the price of admission, and Irish Woman and Girlie Bear seemed to enjoy it more than I did.  Boo sat through it, although he did jump a few times at some of the more sudden gags.  Girlie Bear said she enjoyed this more than she did the other Halloween cartoon on the market, Frankenweenie.

I wouldn’t recommend paying full price to see this one, but it was worth a matinée.  However, if you miss this one, you won’t regret it for the rest of your life.