WMS

Hotel Transylvania 2

2015 · Directed by Genndy Tartakovsky

🧘4

Woke Score

44

Critic

🍿70

Audience

Ultra Based

Critics rated this 40 points above its woke score. Among Ultra Based films, this critic score ranks #1280 of 1469.

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Synopsis

When the old-old-old-fashioned vampire Vlad arrives at the hotel for an impromptu family get-together, Hotel Transylvania is in for a collision of supernatural old-school and modern day cool.

Consciousness Assessment

Hotel Transylvania 2 is a mainstream family animated comedy that operates within firmly conventional parameters. The film's central conflict revolves around generational anxiety and family acceptance, themes that have animated comedy for decades. Dracula fears his son-in-law's parenting abilities, a setup that could have explored broader questions about non-traditional family structures, but instead resolves itself through straightforward sentiment and physical comedy. The interspecies marriage at the heart of the plot functions as a quirky fantasy premise rather than a genuine engagement with questions of difference or belonging.

The cast, while featuring some voice talent associated with sketch comedy and contemporary entertainment, reflects the standard approach of mainstream animation in the mid-2010s. There is no discernible attempt to foreground underrepresented communities in meaningful roles, nor any thematic engagement with contemporary social concerns. The film's humor derives from slapstick, situational comedy, and the contrast between traditional vampire culture and modern sensibilities, but this contrast operates at the level of generational comedy rather than cultural commentary.

This is a film designed to be inoffensive and commercially viable, which it achieved. It contains no identifiable markers of 2020s-style progressive cultural awareness. The film is simply a family comedy about monsters who learn to value each other, a premise that requires no contemporary cultural lens to execute.

Analysis generated by our Consciousness Algorithm

Critic Reviews

44%from 24 reviews
TheWrap80

Whereas the jokes in the “Grown Ups” series feel reactionary and bullying, the family-friendly Hotel Transylvania gags (in the script by Sandler and Robert Smigel) instead come off as clever and humane, even when they’re making fun of helicopter moms and lawsuit-sensitive summer camps.

Alonso DuraldeRead Full Review →
Chicago Tribune75

The spookiest thing about Hotel Transylvania 2 is how much funnier, colorful and more original it is this second time around.

Rick BentleyRead Full Review →
The Hollywood Reporter70

This time around, greater attention has been paid to story and character development (while scaling back on all the sight gags) and the substantial results give the ample voice cast and returning director Genndy Tartakovsky more to sink their teeth into, with pleasing results.

Michael RechtshaffenRead Full Review →
New Orleans Times-Picayune20

Where's a wooden stake when you need one?

Mike ScottRead Full Review →

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