Check out this hotel

With Halloween fast approaching and many of the kingdom’s school children getting ready to embark on their half-term holidays, parents may be looking for a way to keep their young offspring occupied with relevant festivities.

What good timing, then, that Hotel Transylvania 2 is a delightful feature that comes along packing healthy dollops of both scares and laughs alike which will keep viewers of all ages entertained throughout its brisk run time.

Having knowledge of the first movie would probably be beneficial here for background information of the characters, but it isn’t essential. This is a self-contained episode that can be enjoyed from start to finish without that pressure.

The story picks up seven years later, where Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) has relaxed and lifted his human ban on Hotel Transylvania, which was originally envisioned as a place of rest and recuperation for the world’s monsters when they wanted time off from scaring people.

On the profit side of things, business is thriving, but our loveable Count (it’s a pleasant change him being the good guy for once) is troubled by his half-human, half-vampire grandson Dennis who isn’t showing any of his vampire side.

So he packs off his daughter, and Dennis’ mother, Mavis (Selena Gomez) to California to visit her human husband Johnny’s (Andy Samberg) parents so that he and his buddies can try to bring out the monster in Dennis by taking him to their old haunting grounds.

It’s a simple tale, and one we’ve seen many times before, but it encompasses themes such as acceptance and tolerance of other races. It portrays strong messages very relevant to modern society and both youngsters and adults alike will take something away from the tale.

Returning director Genndy Tartakovsky is not afraid to take his characters in new and interesting directions in the sequel. While Dracula acknowledges that humanity has changed in the last century and are not the monsters he perceives them to be (the irony here is wonderful), he’s still not ready to accept the idea of his grandson being human and part of his family.

This drives the plot, and the film’s best moments, as he subjects Dennis to various monster trials that had me howling in laughter (my particular favourite involved Drac throwing Dennis off a rickety platform high in the sky in the hopes that he’ll turn into a bat and fly before he hits the ground – you’ll have to see what happens). Other times, the ensemble of monsters get in on the action too, resulting in wacky car chases, live-wire stunts and clever visual jokes. There really is something of everything here, and these scenes are hugely enjoyable to watch.

Of course, being an animation, this would mean nothing if the visual aspects were poor. Luckily, the digital effects have been crafted masterfully by the experts at Sony. The director has something of a unique style, with the characters often going off-model to accentuate their facial expressions and body movements. It’s quirky and slightly jarring at first, but with time it creates a dynamic presentation that sets it apart from other animated films.

It’s not all rosy though, with the writing being slightly weak. As my mortal nemesis, I’m going to blame it on Sandler since he assumed some writing duties here whereas he was thankfully kept away in the first film.

Furthermore, a lot of the jokes are rehashed. They’ll be funny for first time viewers, but not so much for anyone who saw the original. In a disappointingly modern twist, many of the gags are riffs on social media and modern technology rather than old horror film tropes, which is an unnecessary shift.

Ultimately, Hotel Transylvania 2 is a visual marvel, with some hilarious physical sequences and scenes which explore mature themes. There’s a disappointing lack of originality second time around though and far fewer laughs in the dialogue, but on balance this is a hotel that you and your kids will want to check out.

Showing Cineco, Seef II, Saar, Novo Cinemas, Dana Cineplex