Hotel Transylvania (2012) - Latest comedian as super villain animation comedy

♥♥♥

 

Humorous character takes on classic horror villains fill up this cheerful poster for Genndy Tartakovsky's Hotel Transylvania

A human male gets into Count Dracula's Hotel Transylvania by accident, a hotel exclusively for super villains, where humans are feared, and the guy Johnny falls for Dracula's daughter Mavis.

 

Hotel Transylvania is written by Peter Baynham (Arthur Christmas (2011)) and Robert Smigel (Jack and Jill (2011)), with Todd Durham (Tales of the Third Dimension (1984)), Dan Hageman and Kevin Hageman (The Lego Movie (2014), both)) contributing story elements, and directed by debuting Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter's Laboratory: Ego Trip, TV movie  (1999)).

Adam Sandler (Blended (2014)) here follows in the footsteps of his peer funny-men Steve Carell and Will Ferrell with an animated role as a super villain, although in a film that might score under the similar roles from his two colleagues, (the superior Despicable Me (2010) and sequels and Megamind (2010), the latter of which is arguably as good as Hotel Transylvania.)

The animation is good-looking, and some of the jokes and gags amuse, (many, - though they are kept tasteful, - are only meant for the film's adult audiences.) The story places weight on some nice values. It is colorful, silly fun and rumpus; light, musical escapism and feel-good fun, mostly based on Universal Pictures catalog of monsters, which have been rendered without their frightening sides. Sometimes the characters fly around in order to give the audiences something for their 3D bucks, - but one must look far for a story-related reason behind these sequences. Still Hotel Transylvania is fairly good entertainment, which is sure to excite especially children.

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 85-104 mil. $ (different reports)

Box office: 358.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 3.79 times its cost)

[Hotel Transylvania premiered 8 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 91 minutes. Production took place in California. The film opened #1 to a 42.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 4 weekends in the Top 5 (#2-#4-#4-#3), grossing 148.3 mil. $ (41.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Brazil with 15.4 mil. $ (4.3 %) and Spain with 15.1 mil. $ (4.2 %). The film was nominated for a Golden Globe. The film spun 2 more theatrical releases and a 4th film as VoD. Tartakovsky returned with Goodnight Mr. Foot (2012, short) and theatrically with Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015). Sandler returned in Jessie (2013, TV-series) and theatrically in Grown Ups 2 (2013), prior to his Hotel Transylvania return, along with almost all of the other voice actor stars. Hotel Transylvania is rotten at 44 % with a 5.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hotel Transylvania?

Arthur (2011) - Frenzied, colossal egotrip remake, irredeemable DOA

ZERO

+ Worst Movie of the Year
+ Stupidest Movie of the Year

The poster for Jason Winer's Arthur seem innocent enough, but ...

Arthur is born stinking rich. He lives with his nanny Hobson and driver in a giant apartment in New York, when his unloving mother gives him an ultimatum; to commit to a forced marriage or to lose his fortune.

Arthur is, luckily, an extreme rarity as a major studio production; it is a film completely bereft of value.
The gamble here, it seems, must have been that Russell Brand's (Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)) exhausting personality could carry an entire film on its own. - It can't.
Instead both he and the film here is extremely strenuous to sit through. Arthur is a remake of Steve Gordon's 1981 movie of the same name with Dudley Moore in the title role, written by Peter Baynham (Hotel Transylvania (2012)) and directed by Jason Winer (Modern Family (2009-14)). It is obvious just minutes into the film that it has no real content besides fluff and puff about a pampered billionaire without connection to reality.
Everyone besides Brand, who is kind of excused because a wealth of people must have propped him up to do this, (the starry cast also includes Helen Mirren (The Queen (2006)), Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha (2012)), Jennifer Garner (Juno (2007)), Luis Guzmán (Carlito's Way (1993)) and Nick Nolte (The Thin Red Line (1998))), should have known better than to accept as tasteless, dumb material as Arthur. The film is, simply put, formulaic and cringe-worthily poor, uninspired on all levels.
Arthur is also large and expensive to boot, a truly great waste of money and human energy. Tonally, it splats out across several chairs: Light, breezy fantasy-comedy/raunchy comedy/indie-feel/New York quirk ... None of it works for it. - Arthur is a Hollywood-constructed eyesore of dimensions.
Brand has had a down period since Diablo Cody's very low-rated Paradise (2013), but is set to make a comeback in funny-sounding Nicholas Cage-starring comedy Army of One (2016). 

Related posts:
 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2011 in films - according to Film Excess
 

Yes. Jason Winer makes Helen Mirren wear this outfit for his movie Arthur

Not only is the trailer for Arthur long like it'll never end ... even worse, characteristically tastelessly, it uses David Bowie's Rebel Rebel to promote itself

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 45.7 mil. $
= Big flop
[Perhaps the most uplifting thing about Arthur is that it was poorly received by critics and audiences alike and bombed commercially. It was nominated for Razzie Awards for Worst Actor (Brand) and Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel. It made 32.8 mil. $ (72 % of its total gross) in the US and a big chunk of the rest of its gross (3 mil. £) in Brand's native UK.]

What do you think of Arthur?