Summary
- "Hotel Transylvania: Transformania" lacks the magic of the previous films without Adam Sandler's voice as Dracula.
- "Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation" is an enjoyable film with a hilarious romance and incorporates more zany humor.
- "Hotel Transylvania 2" sures the original with a refined formula, themes of inclusion, and Adam Sandler's best performance as Dracula.
The Hotel Transylvania series has been a consistent favorite among younger viewers since its inception, with each animated film bringing in an impressive figure at the box office. The films put a lighter, more silly spin on the famous Universal monsters like Dracula and the Wolfman, with all the classic monsters coming together under the roof of Dracula's hotel. Though each installment in this quirky franchise has been a delight in its own way, they weren't all created equal, especially as we dive into the later installments.
Releasing in 2012, the first Hotel Transylvania film brought Adam Sandler back to animation in the form of Count Dracula, who had built a hotel for monsters away from the human world. The film also featured the voice acting talents of Selena Gomez, Kevin James, and David Spade, among others who would reprise their roles for the following two films. Though the cast of Hotel Transylvania underwent some changes for Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, the overall charm remained. This film served as the final installment in the franchise, which means it's time to rank these titles from worst to best.
4 Hotel Transylvania: Transformania (2022)
The final film in the series, Hotel Transylvania: Transformania, offers up some decent fun for younger audiences, as well as some solid chuckles for adults, but the film is sorely missing the presence of Genndy Tartakovsky behind the helm, as well as Adam Sandler as the voice of Dracula. Brian Hull does his best to recreate Sandler's charismatic energy as the iconic vampire, but no one can replicate that same magic that Sandler possesses, leaving the character feeling much different this time around.
The remaining voice cast all do a solid job, but Transformania sadly feels more like a feature-length episode of a Hotel Transylvania spin-off TV series rather than a proper fourth entry in the film franchise. This is reflected in the critic and audience reviews of Hotel Transylvania: Transformania on Rotten Tomatoes. Though the film was fine for young audiences, it wasn't the family-pleasing spectacle that the previous films in the franchise had been.
3 Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (2018)
The first Hotel Transylvania film to move outside of the fall release window, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation takes the shape of a summer animated adventure, and it mostly pays off with what is another really enjoyable film in the franchise, as well as being film to date. Sandler remains his charismatic self as Dracula, and the romance that forms between Dracula and Ericka Van Helsing is both touching and genuinely quite hilarious, as Tartakovsky gets to incorporate a lot more of his zany sense of humor this time around than in the two films prior.
Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation may suffer a little from a weak climax, and Van Helsing doesn't make for a particularly compelling villain, especially compared to his granddaughter Ericka. Still, this is a strong entry in the series. Summer Vacation changed enough of the original Hotel Transylvania movie's formula to keep things interesting while still adhering to the quirky elements that audiences had come to expect.
2 Hotel Transylvania (2012)
The first film in the Hotel Transylvania series remains a clever spin on the classic Universal monsters, making for some hilarious antics and solid character-building for this first entry. The animated film also gave Adam Sandler and his Happy Maddison crew a solid comeback to comedy after less-than-stellar films such as Grown Ups and Zookeeper had plagued their careers. Hotel Transylvania contains a solid beating heart at its center, with a touching story surrounded by plenty of great comedy.
What makes this franchise special is not only its unique spin on these classic characters but also the strong themes of family and acceptance that both kids and adults can find compelling. Not every joke lands, and it may be predictable, but the first Hotel Transylvania flick is a strong start for the series and lays the groundwork for the franchise successfully. This is reflected in its fair audience score of 72 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
1 Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015)
While the first film laid the groundwork for Adam Sandler's successful animation franchise, Hotel Transylvania 2 refines the formula and themes of that first film and takes them to another level in a rare sequel that sures the original. The film follows Dracula and his gang of lovable monsters as they try to bring out the vampire side of Dracula's half-human grandson, Dennis, in a plot to keep Mavis and Jonathan from moving away from the hotel. This sequel speaks to the most important themes of the Hotel Transylvania series, that of inclusion and acceptance of one another. Dracula's arc in the film is his most endearing and interesting in the series, as he has to come to with his grandson perhaps not inheriting his vampire genes.
The Hotel Transylvania films arguably broke Adam Sandler's bad movie streak and showed that the comedian can still turn in a great and hilarious performance, even in animation, and Hotel Transylvania 2 is his finest performance as Dracula by far. This is also the funniest of the lot, featuring some really clever gags and comedic set pieces that are to die for, and Mel Brooks' Vlad is a hilarious and welcome addition to the cast. Hotel Transylvania 2 remains the best in the Hotel Transylvania franchise and the one that proves that Sandler's comedies can still have depth and compelling themes despite their more goofy and childish nature.
