Van Helsing’s mysterious new invention transforms Drac and his pals into humans and Johnny into a monster. With their new mismatched bodies, Drac and the pack must find a way to switch themselves back before their transformations become permanent.
This film starts out with the delicate task of showcasing hard-to-discuss topics such as aging, coming of age, and stepping out of comfort zones. As animation goes, it appears much easier to tackle these harsh realities with larger-than-life characters that have limitless boundaries and the ability to make us laugh at ourselves in spite of the serious circumstances we sometimes find ourselves in. When the movie opens, the song “Just The Two Of Us” plays in the background while close-knit father, Drac (Brian Hull), and daughter, Mavis (Selena Gomez) are dancing together as if nothing else in the world matters. Suddenly, the song fades out as Mavis’ husband, Jonathan (Andy Samberg), appears to have made it an unwelcome threesome, and it is highly evident that Drac doesn’t care for the extremely vibrant and high-energy person that his daughter has welcomed into both their lives. While Drac is busy playing hardball with Jonathan for changing the hotel’s calm 125th-anniversary celebration into a frightfest, he is also dealing with the realization that retirement is knocking on his door. With the support of his wife Ericka (Kathryn Hahn), he is ready to make the announcement that he is going to turn over the reins of the hotel to his lovely daughter, Mavis.
Mavis, who is preparing for the hotel’s celebration in another room, overhears her father practicing his surprise retirement speech, and she is so elated that she runs to find Jonathan to tell him the great news. In her haste to share the news, she convinces herself that Drac is leaving the hotel to Jonathan as well. As she shares the news, she reminds him that he must keep it a secret, but unfortunately, Jonathan cannot do that. When Jonathan lets Drac know that he is aware of the secret and is grateful for the inclusion, Drac is horrified and immediately comes up with a way to make Jonathan ineligible to receive the gift of the hotel due to the fact that he isn’t a monster. The plot swiftly thickens as Drac makes an attempt to change his speech to reflect a different surprise while Jonathan is busying himself, trying to solicit someone to make him into a monster so he can be eligible to accept the gift and truly be a part of the family. Alas, everything goes awry when Grandpa is solicited for the monster transformation, and he has forgotten what actually works. When he ends up changing the current monsters back to humans with the Monsterfication Ray and Jonathan into a supersized monstrosity of what he formerly was, there is a race against time to reach the notorious Crystal Cave in order to reverse the order of transformations and repair all the damage that has occurred simply because Drac was unwilling to accept that even though Johnny was a lot different then what he had envisioned as best for Mavis, he was still a good man.
While at first, the plot seems to focus on the typical issues with family dynamics, the storyline grows into a well-structured set of events that showcases how much progress can be made when different types work together to achieve the same goals. Directors Jennifer Kluska and Derek Drymon do an excellent job of having each of the characters lay it on the line to reveal both their weaknesses and strengths and how to really come together when times got tough. As a rule, Drac doesn’t just make life difficult for others, then apologize and move on, he truly has to suffer for his mistakes and become humbled throughout the process of changing his entire outlook through affirmation and transformation.
The film, which was originally produced by Sony Pictures Animation and planned for release in October of 2021, was eventually sold to Amazon Studios for one hundred million dollars. “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” is the 4th and final installment in the series, and with its cast of heavyweights including David Spade, Fran Drescher, Keegan-Michael Key, Jim Gaffigan, and Selena Gomez, it should hold its own at the box office as it goes room to room in giving its audience a hilarious perspective of the key to valuing differences.
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