Today was a good day! I'm also pretty pumped that I have off Halloween and the day after so I think I'm in pretty good shape to not miss a day which has been harder than in year's past due to my work schedule and Hurricane Ian throwing a monkey wrench into my plans. So after a day where I got a whole lot of steps in, we settled in to watch...
Hotel Transylvania (2012)
In the past I was very anti-Adam Sandler. I've softened over the years on him and think he's a pretty good actor when he's not playing a cartoon character. I still think Billy Madison is trash. A lot of the humor is built around, "They're kids saying and acting how kids shouldn't! That's hilarious LOL!!111!!!1ONE!!11" or just Adam Sandler yelling in gibberish. Then I saw him in Reign Over Me, Punch Drunk Love and The Longest Yard and my opinion of him has greatly improved. I don't watch a lot of his movies, but I really like how he has a core group of friends that are in all his films. I like how he's loyal to his crew despite how big he gets.
The movie begins in the 1800's and Dracula is building a hotel for monsters with the specific intent of giving the undead a refuge from humans. Dracula is planning a birthday party for his daughter who is turning 118. It's a big deal so he's pulling out all the stops. But first he has to deal with his daughter's desire for freedom. To trick her into fearing humans he built a village and got his zombies to dress up as humans and scare her into giving up her desire for freedom. Problem is, he accidentally gets the attention of a lone human backpacker played by Adam Sandberg and a lot of hijinx ensue.
I can't believe I'm about to type this, but I really liked this movie. The old fashioned stuffiness of Adam Sandler's Dracula combined with Sandberg's cheerfulness makes for a lot of fun and funny scenes. His character is just so positive despite being threatened multiple times by a being that could kill him in an instant. His endless optimism is so entertaining when you contrast it with the world he's found himself in. It's fun watching them interact and seeing Sandberg finally start to break down Dracula's tough facade and actually enjoy things. There are a lot of funny gags and I really liked their interactions with each other.
The movie is pretty funny, but I think I'm getting softer in my old age now that I'm watching movies with President Baby, because this movie is really cute. The blossoming relationship between Sandberg's Jonathan and Dracula's daughter Mavis, played by Selena Gomez is pretty adorable at times. You watch and you root for them and anytime the movie starts getting sweet between the two of them, it shows Dracula nearby about to lose his mind. It's a lot of fun.
I think I like this movie so much is because I have such a soft spot for the Universal Monsters. Normally any changes to the formula of iconic characters will send me charging up a hill with a torch and pitchfork, but I liked what they did here. The Wolfman provides several funny scenes with his litter of pups, Frankenstein's monster is a delight, the Mummy is kind of there and the Invisible Man is silly fun.
