Hotel Transylvania: Transformania

Dracula and his spooky friends have a lot to adjust to in their fourth outing in the Hotel Transylvania. For starters, Adam Sandler is substituted as Dracula by Brian Hull, while his pal Frank goes from Kevin James to Brad Abrell. But you can barely tell the difference; the actors do that great a job.

More noticeable, however, is that this entry, subtitled Transformania, has forgone theaters in favor of Amazon Prime. It also substitutes director Genndy Tartakovsky for Derek Drymon and Jennifer Kluska. It's got some issues, but I can't hate it at all.

This time, Dracula plans to retire from the Hotel Transylvania and leave it to daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and son-in-law Johnny (Andy Samberg). But word quickly reaches them, so Drac has to back-pedal and tell Johnny that he can't inherit the hotel because of "monster real-estate laws." So, Johnny visits Dr. Van Helsing to make him a monster. The Doctor makes a dragon out of Johnny with his new transforming wand. The wand can also humanize monsters, so Drac tries to humanize Johnny. But Drac accidentally humanizes himself and his pals, Frank, Griffin, Murray and Wayne.

The Macguffin Crystal that powers the wand is now broken. So, Johnny and Dracula are directed to South America to find a replacement. Hilarity ensues. What's not hilarious is that the monsterizing won't stop until Johnny is a mindless beast. So, Mavis and company join them to beat the deadline.

What are my issues with it? Its basic premise is too similar to the first movie. Both of them are about Dracula accepting Johnny as a family member. It's been ten years and he hasn't? Wayne's life with his absurdly numerous kids and his eternally expecting Wanda (Molly Shannon) has gotten old too. 

 And that's it, actually. Let's get to the positives.

The zany cartoon antics are as lively as ever. The facial expressions and slapstick are sure to get some chuckles. There are some funny gags involving the humanized monsters. Dracula and Johnny get some amusing father and son-in-law bonding time. They even bond over a loopy marshmallow analogy. There's plenty of kid-friendly action scenes for those who can't stand kiddy slapstick. Gigi, Van Helsing's literal guinea pig for his wand, makes for a funny threat. The finale turns it into an amusing shaggy dog story.

The spooky aesthetics are still appealing as ever. The best designs come from Ericka's (Kathryn Hahn), aka Mrs. Dracula's, airship, and the crystal cave where they end up. We even get a humorous gag when the CGI visuals go 2D; I'm not telling you when. 

Hotel Transylvania: Transformania promises to be the final outing for Dracula and his friends. Still, Johnny's dragon antics make him a news hero, so if the franchise continues, that's where it should check-in. It's sure to entertain kids and annoy serious adults. The plot is decent even if it's too familiar. I also didn't hate the cast of monsters or their human pals. It's only 87 minutes, so it should make for an easy home matinee any time.