At no point did 2012’s Hotel Transylvania threaten to become a big hit, as it made $358 million off an $85 million budget – competent but not stellar numbers. However, that proved enough to greenlight a sequel, and one arrived via 2015’s logically titled Hotel Transylvania 2.

Since the first story, Count Dracula (voiced by Adam Sandler) opened up his “all-monster” Hotel Transylvania to human guests as well. He did so because his vampire daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) met and wedded human Jonathan (Andy Samberg).

Mavis and Jonathan enjoy a half-human/half-vampire son named Dennis (Asher Blinkoff). Because Dennis doesn’t show supernatural powers, Dracula worries that his part of the bloodline didn’t make it to his grandson.

Dracula greets a new fear when Mavis considers a movie to Johnny’s US hometown. Dracula seeks to keep his daughter and grandson with him while he and his pals try to bring out the kid’s monster side.

When I saw the first movie, I thought it squandered much of its potential. Rather than enjoy the possibilities of the monster-based premise, it devolved into a cliché tale of an overprotective parent who needs to learn to let go.

Which my synopsis implies repeats itself with Hotel 2. Once again, we find a story that revolves around Dracula’s attempts to control and influence his daughter’s life.

This leads to a narrative that follows a highly predictable course of action, and one that comes with the expected twists. Much of Hotel 2 exists for juxtapositions of the “normal world” and the “monster realm”, with a slew of related gags.

Some of these hit but many don’t. While we get occasional inventiveness, a lot of the material feels pretty easy to see coming and without a lot of cleverness.

Still, I admit Hotel 2 gets better as it goes. The first half can become a bit of a drag, as the narrative beats fail to engage and the gags do little to compensate.

After Mavis/Johnny go see California and Dracula tries to bring out the inner monster in Dennis, though, matters improve a fair amount. We get fun bits like a visit to Drac’s old summer camp, one that used to offer danger and scares but now makes everything super-safe.

The third act builds to a predictable climax – c’mon, does anyone expect Dennis won’t turn into a vampire? – but it also brings a reasonable amount of fun. Though nothing here every really takes flight, at least the movie improves as it progresses and ends on a fairly high note.

Like the first film, Hotel 2 comes with a strong cast. In addition to Sandler, Gomez and Samberg, we get vocal performances from a slew of other “names” like Kevin James, David Spade, Nick Offerman, Steve Buscemi, Megan Mullaly, and others.

Heck, Mel Brooks even turns up along the way! None of them really excel, but they add spark to the proceedings.

At no point can I claim to believe Hotel 2 delivers a particularly good animated comedy. However, it gives us enough fun to make it an improvement over its lackluster predecessor, so expect a fairly lively ride – at least once the movie gets past a sluggish first segment, that is.

Hotel Transylvania 2 appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not a top-notch computer-animated project, the movie usually looked solid.

Sharpness remained positive much of the time. Some light softness crept into the presentation at times – more than anticipated – but the majority of the flick appeared accurate and well-defined.

Jaggies and moiré effects failed to exist, and no edge enhancement appeared. The transfer came completely free from source flaws, so this was a perfectly clean presentation.

Hotel 2 opted for a palette with a good mix of tones, as we found a fairly broad range of colors. The tones seemed well-depicted and rich.

Blacks were deep and firm, while shadows appeared clean and concise. Outside of the occasional soft shots, I felt pleased with this appealing presentation.

I also felt the DTS-HD MA 5.1 audio of Hotel 2 seemed strong. Given its story, the movie didn’t offer constant action, but it boasted more than enough good sequences to make it engaging.

The track offered plenty of flight and other active material to create a broad, involving setting. It also contributed a lot of localized speech and other components that allowed it to open up the tale.

In addition, audio quality was strong. Speech seemed natural and distinctive, and music offered nice range and vivacity.

Effects came across as accurate and dynamic. They boasted fine punch and appeared concise and full. Although the audio didn’t always dazzle, it soared often enough to earn a “B+“.

As we shift to extras, we find two audio commentaries, the first of which comes from director Genndy Tartakovsky. He brings a running, screen-specific discussion of the movie’s development, cast and performances, story/character choices, visual and character design, music, animation, editing/deleted/alternate scenes, music/audio and connected topics.

Tartakovsky delivers a pretty solid chat. He covers a good array of topics and ensures we find a nice assortment of movie-related insights.

For the second commentary, we hear from writer/actor Adam Sandler, writer/producer Robert Smigel, and actor/producer Allen Covert. All three sit together for their running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, deleted/altered scenes and related domains.

Don’t expect a tremendously informative commentary here, as the guys like to joke around a lot. Sandler also goes into character to chat as Drac at times, and he often just points out the many times his kids appear in the movie.

Despite Sandler’s off-task tendencies, Smigel helps keep things on topic – sort of – as we go. He manages to ensure we get a decent array of production notes, even if the track never becomes better than just okay.

A Sing Along arrives via “Monster Lullaby Scary-oke”. This allows viewers to croon along to “Hush Little Monster’ and “Twinkle Twinkle Little Bat”. This provides cute and nothing more.

Throw the Ultimate Monster Party runs five minutes, 45 seconds and gives kids a tutorial how to create a fun shindig. Youngsters may enjoy this.

Seven Deleted Scenes occupy a total of 17 minutes, 53 seconds. Two alternate openings appear, and others add to exposition and character elements.

None of these feel crucial, but they offer reasonable entertainment. Expect varying levels of completion, as we see a mix of completed animation and storyreels.

Make the Scary and Silly Sounds of HT2 spans six minute, 24 seconds and features foley artist Robin Harlan. She teaches kids how to make sounds associated with the movie. Though aimed at youngsters, Harlan nonetheless gives us good insights related to her work.

Next comes The New Guys, a three-minute, 32-second featurette that involves Covert, Tartakovsky, producer Michelle Murdocca and actor Mel Brooks.

As implied by the title, “Guys” offers minor notes about characters new to Hotel 2. Though brief, it comes with a handful of worthwhile notes.

How to Draw Your Favorite Characters goes for five minutes, four seconds and comes with comments from actor Asher Blinkoff and production designer Michael Kurinsky. They show us how to sketch some of the movie’s roles in this mildly interesting piece.

A music video follows, as we get “I’m In Love With a Monster” from Fifth Harmony. The song and video don’t seem especially compelling, but the ladies of Fifth Harmony offer enough sex appeal to make the video worth a look – even if their antics feel a bit “PG-13” for a video that accompanies a kiddie movie.

Under Meet the New Characters, we get seven minutes, 17 seconds of “character progressions”. This featurette includes comments from Tartakovsky, Kurinsky, and visual effects supervisor Karl Herbst.

“Meet” expands on “New Guys” to offer additional details about design for Dennis, Johnny’s parents, Vlad, and Bela. Expect a nice array of thoughts.

A Character Sketch Gallery offers 91 pieces of movie art that range from rough drawings to detailed concert art. It becomes a good compilation.

The disc opens with ads for The Angry Birds Movie, Open Season: Scared Silly, Pixels and Paul Blart Mall Cop 2. No trailer for Hotel 2 appears here.

Though not a great animated tale, at least Hotel Transylvania 2 improves over its forgettable predecessor. The movie starts slowly but eventually delivers a fair amount of amusement. The Blu-ray brings pretty positive picture and audio along with a mix of bonus materials. As long as you don’t expect a classic, you’ll likely find some entertainment here.