Not living it up in the Hotel Transylvania

Think Ice Age on acid, or Shrek on speed. Hotel Transylvania adopts the tolerable idea from Shrek of bringing together a dazzling host of ‘usual suspects’ – from fairy tale, mythical and Gothic genres – to create something new out of something familiar. But unlike the good-natured ogre’s franchise, this whimsical ensemble flick achieves only a flabby lack of direction.

 

Whatever metaphorical image I could have picked to open this review, I’d have had to emphasise the inescapable feeling of incredulous idiocy. True, the dreary slapstick and cringe-inducing bodily-function jokes appear to be the film’s proud raison d’etre, but I suspect at times it’ll freak out rather than amuse the little ones. The shticks are done with so little heart, brain and theatrical flair that you wonder whether the screenwriter is actually a zombie (or just stoned).

 

The story almost looks good on paper. Dracula’s (Sandler) adolescent daughter Mavis (Gomez) is approaching her 118th birthday and the proud father has invited a crowd of the world’s most notorious monsters: Frankenstein (voiced by regular Sandler co-star Kevin James, King of Queens), his wife (nasal Fran Drescher, The Nanny), the Invisible Man (Spade), the Mummy (CeeLo Green), Quasimodo (Jon Lovitz), a family of werewolves (led by the brilliant Steve Buscemi from Boardwalk Empire) and a slew of sundry witches and skeletons.

 

Mavis, who in human years is now 18, dreams of leaving the hotel she calls home in order to meet the other half, the humans, whose barbarism all monsters dread. (Kids will hopefully appreciate the reverse irony). There’s another kind of ‘other’ she finds interesting: boys. As fate would have it, a typical 21-year-old human backpacker, Jonathan (Samberg), loses his way in the woods and finds the barely concealed hotel. Dracula gets busy telling everyone Jonathan is a monster too (to avoid mass panic) and trying to keep him away from Mavis. Predictably, a Romeo and Juliet angle develops, but tragedy dies at the hands of ham-fisted jokes, tired clichés and several disco-musical scenes that never get off the ground.

 

All in all, Hotel Transylvania is a singularly tepid and dull affair offering nothing to grown-ups. Go and see the excellent A Cat in Paris instead.

 

Hotel Transylvania (7)

Dir: Genndy Tartakovsky; US animation, 2012, 91 mins; Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, David Spade
Premiered November 8
Playing at Fisketorvet
 

TOP STORIES

  • Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    Bestselling author of ‘The Year of Living Danishly’ Helen Russell on why she moved back to the UK after 12 years

    After more than a decade living in Denmark, Russell shares why she made the move, how she’s coping, what she already misses, and the exciting new projects she’s working on. “It’s been a very tough decision. I love Denmark, and it will always hold a special place in my heart,” she says.

  • Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    Denmark launches first AI supercomputer

    The new Gefion AI supercomputer is one of the world’s fastest and will accelerate research and provide new opportunities in Danish academia and industry.

  • Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Navigating big love, big moves and big feelings

    Experts believe it takes seven years to move into a new culture, according to leading Danish psychologist Jette Simon and therapist Vibeke Hartkorn. For expat couples, the challenges of starting a new life together in Denmark can put pressure on relationships, but emotions-focused therapy can help.

  • More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    More and more Danes are working after retirement age

    Politicians debate a lot these days about when you can retire. The reality shows that an increasing number of Danes like to work, even if they can withdraw from the labor market. Financial incentives help.

  • Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Environmental activist fears death in prison if extradited to Japan

    Canadian-born environmental activist Paul Watson has been in prison in Greenland for almost 100 days awaiting an extradition decision for a 14-year-old offence against a Japanese whaling vessel that he calls a “minor misdemeanor”. The 73-year-old had previously passed through Ireland, Switzerland, Monaco, France and the USA without trouble, before Greenlandic police arrested him in July.

  • Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    Denmark too slow to ease recruitment rules for non-EU service workers, say industry associations

    When the Danish government in January presented the first of its schemes to make it easier to recruit foreign labour from outside the EU, it was hailed by the healthcare and service sectors as a timely and important policy shift. But while healthcare changes have been forthcoming, the service sector is still struggling, say the directors of the industry association Dansk Industri and one of the country’s largest private employers ISS.

Connect club

Connect Club is your gateway to a vibrant programme of events and an international community in Denmark.

Sign up here

Career

  • Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    Come and join us at Citizens Days!

    On Friday 27 and Saturday 28 of September, The Copenhagen Post will be at International Citizen Days in Øksnehallen on Vesterbro, Copenhagen. Admission is free and thousands of internationals are expected to attend

  • Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Diversifying the Nordics: How a Nigerian economist became a beacon for inclusivity in Scandinavia

    Chisom Udeze, the founder of Diversify – a global organization that works at the intersection of inclusion, democracy, freedom, climate sustainability, justice, and belonging – shares how struggling to find a community in Norway motivated her to build a Nordic-wide professional network. We also hear from Dr. Poornima Luthra, Associate Professor at CBS, about how to address bias in the workplace.

  • Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality launches support package for accompanying spouses

    Lolland Municipality, home to Denmark’s largest infrastructure project – the Fehmarnbelt tunnel connection to Germany – has launched a new jobseeker support package for the accompanying partners of international employees in the area. The job-to-partner package offers free tailored sessions on finding a job and starting a personal business.

Want to advertise your job with CPH Post?

Contact us

Jobs