The good Drac (voiced by Adam Sandler) is dragged off to a luxury monster cruise vacation to the legendary Bermuda Triangle by his daughter Mavis (voiced by Salena Gomez), along with the rest of the family and friends. Longing to meet someone, as he has been single since Mavis’ mother died at the hands of an angry human mob in the first instalment of Hotel Transylvania, Drac zings — which in monster lingo means to falls in love — with the ship’s human captain, Erica (voiced by Kathryn Hahn).

While Erica harbours a dark secret, no one suspects that Drac’s archenemy, Professor Abraham Van Helsing (voiced by Jim Gaffigan), is still alive and has a deadly surprise planned for all.

Although the plot is a little too predictable, Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation offers a lot of fun and plenty of light-hearted laughs. The movie gives some very good advice: it is important to prioritise family, to live in harmony we need to learn to accept and tolerate those different from us and the importance of keeping the conversation going.

Hotel Transylvania 3, produced by Sony Pictures Animations, is directed by Emmy award-winning animation director Genndy Tartakovsky, who also has the first two movies of the franchise to his credit as well as a number of TV cartoon series, including Dexter’s Laboratory and Samurai Jack.

The painstakingly done 3D graphics are stunning to say the least for uber detailing of the lovable assortment of monster characters. Lookout for Wayne and Wanda Werewolf, overwhelmed by their large pack of children, Blobby the green blob monster, Dennis’ giant pet puppy Tinkles, the passive-yet-destructive singing Kraken who lives near the Las Vegas-style lost city of Atlantis; not to mention the fully mechanised Professor Van Helsing.

The film is fast-paced and colourful. The dances, a hallmark of the Hotel Transylvania series, are a treat to watch. The characters stutter and sashay across the screen with the kind of flexibility that can only be attributed to creatures of the night. All in all, something very creative and imaginative that young cinegoers and parents can enjoy together like the first two films of the franchise. But parents be warned; there are some suggestive characterisations and symbolisations whose meanings you may want to discuss with your children after watching the movie.

And “Heyyyy Macarena”, Los Del Rio’s 1993 Spanish pop hit can save any day, even a monster vacation gone wrong!

Published in Dawn, Young World, July 28th, 2018