REVIEW — “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”

In this third animated installment of life with Dracula and his family, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, takes the family of monsters out to sea.  Kids will love watching their favorite monsters on vacation and there are even enough laughs for most adults to enjoy, even if the plot is predictable.

The movie opens with the story of Dracula’s (Adam Sandler) long-time battle with monster hunter Abraham Van Helsing (Jim Gaffigan).  Van Helsing’s relentless quest to kill all monsters becomes an obsession.  Skip forward to present day and Drac, even among friends and family, finds himself lonely.  It has been 126 years since his wife was lost to mob hysteria.  Daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez), her husband Johnny (Andy Samberg) and son Dennis (Asher Blinkoff) are happy.  His friends are all paired off and happy.  And Drac feels alone.

Mavis sees the sadness in her dad and decides the family could use a vacation.  So she books a monsters-only luxury cruise for the family, the hotel employees and guests.  Once aboard the ship the monsters don their vacation gear.  Seeing Drac in a tropical shirt (collar up, of course) and white shorts is a cute moment.  And the way the kids sneak their over-sized family pet on board is also good for a giggle.  The werewolf family has grown to an unmanageable lot of rowdy boys and the one single sweet girl.  And seeing Drac’s father Vlad (Mel Brooks) in a speedo with elderly witches mooning after him is a hoot.

Drac is “zinged” when he meets Captain Erica (Kathryn Hahn).  Now Mav becomes overprotective trying to keep her father and Captain Erica apart.  Little do the monsters realize that Captain Erica is actually Erica Von Helsing.

The story tugs at inclusion and not judging others until you know them, but doesn’t overdo it.  It’s a fun way for kids to get the message.  My particularly favorite part was when the werewolf mom and dad were tranquilized and spent the cruise locked in a closet – the best vacation they ever had.  What a great laugh.

Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation is rated PG.