All in all, a nice seasonal film.

Rating: 6/10 (12 October 2012)

As far as cartoon animation films go, this film actually delivers. An original plot, some memorable characters, and a decent script, which all provided plenty of laughs from the Sony Pictures Animation department. My only issue with this film is that the last third of the film fails miserably, as compared to the first two-thirds of this film. If the anticlimactic ending could have been as fresh and exciting as the beginning of this film, this movie could have been a huge hit, with a plethora of options to continue the storyline.
The plot of the film centers around Dracula (voiced by Adam Sadler). In an attempt to protect his daughter, Mavis (voiced by Selena Gomez), from the mean and wicked "humans", Dracula has constructed a fortified castle / monster inn. Creatures near and far migrate to this demon dwelling so they can socialize freely amongst their own kind, without the fear of being terrorized and hunted down by the awful and depraved human populace hot on their trail. The purpose of Dracula's Castle / Inn is also to keep Mavis from wondering about in public, thus confining her to live her life within the protective castle walls for eternity. However, once a year, all of Dracula's friends (the Werewolf, Frankenstein, the Invisible Man, the Mummy, etc) come to Dracula's Castle to celebrate Mavis' birthday. But this year, an unexpected guest arrives, Jonathan (voiced by Andy Samberg), an American teenager backpacking his way across Europe; and for the first time in 118 years, Mavis has something to be excited about.
The thing which makes this film original at first, is the thought that these mean, evil, nasty entities in which awful human books are written about; are in fact afraid of common ordinary person. In fact, humans are the bad guys, with their "fire" and "pitchforks", and they are the principal villains in the scary bedtime books that "monsters" read to their children to scare them into being good. It is this premise, which makes this film works for the most part. However, as the film progresses, the writers/director seem to veer off this established principal, and this is where the film seems to suffer.
All in all, a nice seasonal film. I have to admit that I did laugh, and was pleasantly amused at times throughout this film. With a couple of different plot choices at the end of this film, the movie could have been perfect. This film has that "Monster, Inc" mentality and feel; however, this film is definitely not in its same class. Still I can and will recommend seeing this film. The casting is by far the best part of this film, in addition to the voices of Sandler, Samberg, and Gomez; also featured are Kevin James, Fran Drescher, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, and Cee Lo Green, just to name a few. So if you are looking for a family friendly film for your 8 year olds and up, then this just might be the family-friendly film that you are looking for. SEE MORE OF MY REVIEWS ON FB @ "THE FARIS REEL"