«Hotel Transylvania 3: you'll be zinging!

Cinema Wednesdays - Virginia Eufemi

In this third instalment of the saga of vampires and other monsters - and we're not talking about Twilight - the scenery changes. We find Dracula and his band of famous friends such as Frankenstein's monster, the invisible man, the mummy and the werewolf ready to face new adventures.

An original cruise

As we learned in previous episodes, Dracula runs the Hotel Transylvania, a popular vacation destination for monsters from all over the world seeking a rest from human persecution. For the monstrous creatures of’Hotel Transylvania are gentle and fearful of humans, just like the Bob Razowski and Jacques Sullivan who hid in Pixar's wardrobes.

But Dracula is a hard worker leadership who has come to abandon his family for his work at the hotel. That's when his beloved daughter Mavis decides to take all the hotel guests and the family on an unprecedented cruise, the first ever organized for monsters. Heading for the Bermuda Triangle, a monstrous surprise awaits them all.

Humor for all

One of the powers of cartoons is their ability to push back the limits of the possible; just think of the extensibility of Looney Tunes or their widely accepted immortality. The characters of’Hotel Transylvania are also malleable and dismountable, which helps create some hilarious situations. The real strength of this animated feature is its humor. The youngest viewers will enjoy the wacky comic characters, while older viewers will enjoy the witty references to current events.

For example, the film (from the first instalment onwards) revolves around the «zing» of love at first sight, which seems to happen only once in a monster's life, hence the «Zingr» app - a clear reference to Tinder - where you can meet witches and other creatures.

Viewers of all ages will undeniably have a good time in the company of these endearing monsters, for whom friendship and family are important values, and who have a familiar comic potential. Familiar because’Hotel Transylvanie 3 is a successful blend of legendary fantasy and folklore with modernity and topicality. These ingredients were already present in the animated features of the ogre Shrek (2001), which combined medieval fables with everyday objects.

Hotel Transylvania 3 also seems to humorously question societal themes such as transhumanism: the illustrious Van Helsing, who since Bram Stoker's novel has given Dracula the chase, is now so old that he has become a man-machine that is both repulsive and comical. This raises questions about man's desire to overcome his mortality through science and technology.

Dancing epilogue

This animated film, directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, tenderly explores the relationship between a widowed father and his daughter: Dracula has raised his daughter Mavis on his own, with whom he has forged a strong bond. But how does he envisage the possibility of rebuilding his life with another woman? Would his daughter see this as a betrayal of her mother? Hotel Transylvania 3 provides a fine answer to these questions.

Since the first Shrek in 2001, we noticed an annoying habit of closing these animated features with a big party where all the film's characters get together to dance to the rhythm of contemporary music. We found him again at the end of Despicable me (2010) and Hotel Transylvania 3 respects tradition. However, the film plays with music in a new way, ironically conjuring up well-known songs from the past as well as current dubstep sounds. Yet another aspect that will appeal to young and old alike, who can't help but «zing».» Hotel Transylvania 3.

Write to the author: virginia.eufemi@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Sony Pictures