Hot Take: Hotel Transylvania 2 is for kids… and only kids. Oh, and for the parents trying to distract their kids for roughly 90 minutes.

There are two types of animated films for kids. There’s the ones written for both kids with adult undertones to keep the chaperones entertained. Then there’s the ones written with a blatant disregard for the adults in the audience. It’s fair to say Hotel Transylvania 2 gave very little thought to any adult involved in the viewing.

From an adult perspective, the only thing Hotel Transylvania 2 boasts is a strong cast of voice actors. Most returned from the original Hotel Transylvania (with the most notable absence being Cee-Lo Green replaced by Keegan Michael Key from Key & Peele). Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez and Andy Samberg lead a voice cast supported by returnees Steve Buscemi, David Spade, Kevin James, Fran Drescher and Molly Shannon. Among the new voices you might recognize are Megan Mullally, Dana Carvey, Chris Kattan, Nick Offerman and Mel Brooks.

Even though it’s purely kid’s stuff, Hotel Transylvania 2 checks in with every monster joke you’d expect and it’s juvenile humor is at least smile inducing. If you have kids, it’s not the worst thing they are going to make you sit through this year. Unfortunately, it’s entertaining enough they’ll want to watch it again and again. (Full disclosure: I don’t have children so I must live vicariously through others and this is a typical complaint I hear from parents about their children’s viewing habits. Not sure why anyone would want to watch the same thing over and… wait, have to cut this short, Titanic‘s on again!)

“Spoiler Free” Pros

  • Blobby
    He doesn’t have any speaking parts but the animated slapstick is very funny.
  • It’s the Best Thing Adam Sandler Has Done In Years
    Outside of Funny People in ’09 and his brief cameo in Top Five, the Hotel Transylvania franchise (bet on a 3rd) is his best work.

“Spoiler Free” Cons

  • Even For the Kids, It Drags a Little When It Tries to Make a Point
    Old school vs. new school thinking, human-monster relationships and love conquering all are running themes throughout the film. About 60 minutes in, the mostly pre-teen audience was getting restless as the movie tried to establish that it wasn’t just kids stuff and maybe had a deeper message.
  • Those Poor Theater Ushers
    The theater was trashed at the end of the 90 minute showing. Popcorn was everywhere.