RageLite Review - Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster (Summer) Vacation (A Strange Halloween 2)

After 2 Hotel movies, they’ve run out of steam

And needed the action set someplace pristine

A mockery of sorts to Sandler’s film schemes

He films for a holiday with friends, so it seems

A major departure could shake up the game

New prospects for jokes, that aren’t kinda lame

Only the third film is yet to be seen

It’s a Monster Vacation on a Strange Halloween

Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation or Summer Vacation for the Americans reading this was released in 2018 and despite being released in the summer, usually a fairly crowded movie period, it earned $580m on an $80m budget. Why did Spider-verse only make $375m again?

New team of writers, Genndy Tartakovsky, who has experience with CW cartoons including favourites like Samurai Jack, he also directed both of the previous movies so knows this franchise pretty well, Michael McCullers joins him. His most recent other works include Boss Baby, *sigh* and he’s apparently working on Shrek 5, be prepared for when that comes out, eventually. Still, he seems to have experience with comedy which should be good for this, right?

When it comes to critical response, more critics seem to like it than the audience, that isn’t unheard of (see the reaction to The Last Jedi, which I still enjoy btw) but whilst the critic score averages out at 5.45/10, the audience score averages 3.2/5, so is this the best of worst one yet? Let’s take a look.

RageLite review - Hotel Transylvania (A Strange Halloween 2)

A Hotel for monsters, a novel idea

Told again and again, for all to hear

Comedians notorious brought into the fray

For a comedy, light-hearted, make of that what you may

3 films have been made, all profitable too

But those that rated it highly were few

So how do they rank among the films I have seen?

Find out as we resume A Strange Halloween

Hotel Transylvania was an idea created by Todd Durham, a comedy writer mostly known for skits and sketches. He created a bible with various idea for characters, plots, theme park rides and such, and sold it to Sony, who saw $$$ in this project and green-lit it. And despite the films themselves getting mixed reception and making but not Disney levels of money at the box office, the franchise, as a whole, has been massively successful, making billions of dollars for Sony.

So, for the first 3 weeks of A Strange Halloween 2 (I’m gonna keep my Luke Cage reviews going for now) we’ll be looking at what goes on in this hotel of Horror. Let’s start with the first film.

Netflix Month - Stranger Things Season 2 - The Lost Sister/The Mind Flayer/The Gate

We’re gonna look at the last 3 episodes of Stranger Things. Since the first episode of the 3 is the controversial standalone episode, I’ll just recap that El found her mother and saw in her memories that there may be someone else like her, someone like 8, who we saw aiding a gang of thieves in the first episode.

Netflix Month - Stranger Things Season 2 - Dig Dug/The Spy

Welcome back to Netflix Month

And we continue our retrospective on Stranger Things. 3 main plot-lines to remember. First off, Dustin has discovered his little Dart is in fact a baby Demogorgon. Second, Jonathan and Nancy have come out of Hawkins Labs with a recorded confession of their involvement with Barb’s death. And finally, Will has been overtaken by the Mind Flayer, in trying to help him, Hopper has looked underneath the dead crops and as in now in The Upside Down. Also, El is looking for her mother.

Netflix Month: Stranger Things Season 2 - The Pollywog/Will the Wise

It's Netflix Month

And we continue our retrospective on Stranger Things. Last time, Mike was missing El, Will’s keeps flashing and seeing a creature in the Upside Down, Nancy said some words she’ll regret to Steve, and Hopper, whilst partaking in being El’s child-minder has stumbled across some rotten pumpkins with black goo. Oh and there’s a girl named Max and Lucas and Dustin have the hots for her, Dustin also found something in his trash can.

Netflix Retrospective: Stranger Things Season 2 episodes 1-2 (A Strange Halloween)

A missing boy in a small town

In another world, the Upside Down

A frantic mum, a worried brother

A sinister lab that’s like no other

From a drugged woman, a girl is born

And from her mother, she was torn

Through the void, she can see

But the void is not empty

Experimentation takes its toll

Scared, her powers go out of control

She opens a portal into the void

Out comes a monster that must be destroyed

It seeks out blood, fresh and warm

Conventional weapons do it no harm

It killed so many, again and again

Only her sacrifice could make this end

The boy is saved, the monster’s gone

The scientists dead, the world moves on

But all is not quite as it seems

As Stranger Things happen on a Strange Halloween

This Halloween we continue our retrospective on Stranger Things, now for season 2

Netflix Retrospective: Stranger Things Season 1 Episodes 7-8 (A Strange Halloween)

A missing child is a thing of dread
As the night went on, another was dead
What they seek is beyond the void
A thing that wants them all destroyed

Police and Mothers cry in vein
A child of power feels their pain
Friends and danger, she stands between
Stranger Things happen on a Strange Halloween

Netflix Retrospective - Stranger Things Season 1 Episodes 5-6 (A Strange Halloween)

Will is missing in Hawkins Town
Elle says he's in the Upside Down
But inside a monster dwells
It's purpose? Who can tell

A lab faked a body, made of wool
But Chief Hopkins is nobody's fool
Into the lab he sneaks unseen
For Stranger Things happen on a Strange Halloween

Netflix Retrospective: Stranger Things Season 1 episodes 3-4 (A Strange Halloween)

In the Town of Hawkins there's plenty to see

But at the centre lies a dark mystery

A boy has gone, into the unknown valley

And a girl is pursued without mercy

The mother, distraught, she can barely cope

His brother, a photographer, holds onto hope

His friends hold too, and begin their search

But for a girl named Barb, things have got worse

Love, at the centre, Nancy and Steve

A dope, a bully, his nature deceives

But the scariest things are as yet unseen

We'll see Stranger things on a Strange Halloween

Netflix Retrospective: Stranger Things Season 1 episodes 1-2 (A Strange Halloween)

Evil lurks in a realm unseen

In Stranger Things on a Strange Halloween

Stranger things is a series on Netflix, and has run for 2 seasons and 17 episodes, we’ll be looking at all of them over the months of October and November, but where better to start, than the beginning. Just a head’s up. I have only skimmed through this series before so there may be some errors in the descriptions. With that said...

#9 Man of Steel

This is a review I wasn’t entirely sure what review I wanted to do, but in the end I chose rage issues, because despite the fact there are good points to it, there are a lot of problems, that as a comic book fan, I’m not impressed with.

So, let’s dig into Man of Steel without delay