Best Adam Sandler movie in years

Rating: Null/10 (21 November 2014)

Adam Sandler more often than not leaves me absolutely cold. His sense of humour is too simplistic and lowbrow for me to enjoy it. That being said, this is a great movie. It's a simple concept. What if Dracula had established himself as a hotel owner to shield all the monsters in the world from those heinous humans with their pitchforks and torches. And what then, if one day a human found his way in. Nothing extraordinary, but the execution is so good here that it simply works.
The characters are the main focus. Dracula (Sandler), his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) and Jonathan, the human (Andy Samberg) are the main actors and all do a good job in selling us both the humour as well as the drama. All are somewhat stereotypical, but in a good, humorous way and they work together extremely well. Especially Dracula and Jonathan.
The rest of the characters are familiar monsters, ghouls and aberrations from various mythologies and stories. All are given enough of a twist to make them unique and their various quirks are fun to witness.
The animation is also superb. Extremely fluid and smooth as well as fast-paced to the extreme. It also has a good distinctive style that suits the comedic tone. Not the best animated film I've ever seen, but it can easily stand next to anything Pixar or Dreamworks put out.
As a whole Hotel Transylvania was a pleasant surprise. Definitely recommended for all ages.