Should they have stayed home? Well, the premise for the vacation is that Mavis believes her father is overworked and needs a break. I never understood taking a vacation with everyone you see every day, but maybe that’s just me. Maybe my heart is darker than Dracula’s. To answer my previous question in a nutshell, unfortunately, I think they could have and then this installment may have been better.  

It wasn’t an awful movie. In fact, it was really cute at times. It just didn’t seem like it needed to be made. There’s a scene before they leave where Dracula is looking on a dating app and that was amusing. Maybe the movie could have had more dates in it for him, but then again he didn’t truly WANT to date. I just felt there was something missing with him stating he is lonely, slightly scanning options online, and then it just jumps to him having a quick crush, although he did not intend to. Another piece I didn’t respect was the input of some inappropriate jokes. I know they are frequently placed in some children’s movies to entertain the adults, but Hotel Transylvania 1 and 2 didn’t have them so they were unexpected. They weren’t abundant or anything, it just felt out of place.  

I always love the messages of these movies, despite the missing pieces. They always place equality highest on the value scale. This translates well outside of the monster/human dichotomy and I think kids can easily understand acceptance is key. Another main narrative in the story is Van Helsing’s great-granddaughter exacting their family’s vendetta against monsters. With the flashback intro of centuries of fighting, the fact that *SPOILER ALERT* Ericka the cruise director secretly was a Van Helsing wasn’t a huge shocker but her falling for Dracula was, in a way. It’s the little kid version of star-crossed lovers! How sweet. Dracula was also comedically smooth. My favorite scene is actually the one where keeps saving her from trap after trap. Even with axes swinging at his head and arrows plunging through him, he was so charming. Lastly, I loved the pinnacle moment where Van Helsing and Johnny fought in a DJ BATTLE! Johnny’s choices in music were perfectly hilarious. This was a great manner to have a deciding confrontation, especially for children’s eyes. 

Now, I understand this is a kid’s movie, so focusing on Dracula dating isn’t practical, funny or relatable, but vacations probably are, and I get that is why they placed the love story this way. It was just missing Dracula’s efforts in not falling in love. He hid it, but he also jumped right in. There is also a move at the very end that wasn’t necessary for the film which was puzzling but it leads me to believe there will be a 4th part for the Hotel Transylvania series. I fear they are heading down a disappointing path and I sure hope I am wrong because I loved 1 and 2. I don’t wish to see those be tainted with the connection to something worse. In conclusion, I would wait and watch this when it releases to Netflix. I give this a 6 for being cute but unnecessary.