MovieChat Forums > Hotel Transylvania 2 (2015) Discussion > The lack of chemistry between Mavis and...

The lack of chemistry between Mavis and Johnny


In the first movie it was slightly more believable because they were young and falling in love but in this one something felt...off. Johnny acted more like Mavis's kid brother than her significant other/the father of her child. It was really annoying how he called her his girlfriend in one of the scenes when at that time she had already become his wife like...really? He's just way too immature. Sometimes that can work in an 'opposites attract' kind of way but I never got the sense that there's anything more to him than just being an idiot. I can't see him as a protector of his family who would do anything to keep them safe...or at least we never really got to see that side of him. He's a complete imbecile with no redeeming qualities about him besides being funny. I know it's just a movie, but with as protective of a father Drac is over Mavis it's hard to believe he's completely okay with having Johnny as a son in law.

I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves.

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It's a cartoon. It's for children. How adult do you expect them to act around each other?

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I don't know. I'm not saying they have to walk around wearing business suits and be "boring" just because they have a kid now but this is the only kid's movie I've recently watched that I have this issue with. The others must be doing something right..

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[deleted]

On the other hand it's one of the few showing that marriage comes before having children. I've seen plenty of adults who look quite young, thought they aren't.

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[deleted]

They are both adults when they met. Johnny being 21 & Mavis being 118

Ace Lions

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That's said on the movie. Mavis is stimulated to go play in the party and she says she can't because she's a parent now, then they stimulate more and she goes.

Well I don't see why people must act differently just becase they get married or get children. Society for sure expects them to act as old hags and parents, but fk the society. If they have fun acting young, they must act like that.

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I agree. Johnny has not developed into a father figure for Dennis or a husband for Mavis and seems to love his backpack more than anything else.

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well when dennis is being smothered by his mother and grandfather and you (johnny) is sidelined a back pack would seem like a good friend that won't judge you or leave you.

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This is subliminal messaging, and you seemed to miss it.

Johnny calling Mavis his girlfriend was, I guess you could say, a flashback to when they first started out. When they first got together at the end of the 1s movie, they went out to see the world, having rode trips, enjoying themselves, etc. She was his girlfriend back then, so he would introduce her as such.

After they got married, they obviously had Dennis very quickly. Once Dennis was born, Mavis became VERY protective of him because she thought he was human. As such, she spent all her time sheltering him and trying to work around a schedule that did both vampire and human lifestyles. As a result, she ended up neglecting her husband and spending all her time and attention on their son. This was indicated when she cancelled her and Johnny's date night, and Johnny texted her at how he needed some love too. That was subliminal messaging of how Mavis was neglecting him by focusing all her attention on protecting their son.

Mavis obviously let her overprotectiveness get out of hand to the extent that Johnny didn't know how to go against it. This was why Drac called him a wimp. In fact, one of the reasons why Dennis was a "late fanger" was because Mavis sheltered him so much that he was never able to reach his potential. Johnny pointed this out during the family argument by indicating how she never gave Dennis the chance to be anything more than human. The actual dialogue was:
Mavis - "He's likes avocados."
Johnny - "That's because you never gave him the chance to try anything else."
That was more subliminal messaging of how Mavis' overprotective nature was holding Dennis back from reaching his potential and being what he was really meant to be. This was the reverse of what Drac was doing by trying to push Dennis into being a vampire. While he was pushing to hard too fast, Mavis was holding him back. In a way, she ended up doing what her father did to her. Like father, like daughter, far too protective.

Anyway, getting back to the "girlfriend" comment from Johnny, I already pointed out how Mavis was neglecting Johnny because she was trying to keep her son safe all the time. Johnny basically wanted his wife back, but didn't know how to go against her protective nature, so he just went along with whatever. But when they were fooling around on the bikes, it was like old times again, like back when they were boyfriend and girlfriend traveling around the world. Johnny got caught up in the moment and slipped back into that old routine by introducing Mavis as his girlfriend rather than his wife. The subliminal message here was meant to demonstrate just how much Mavis had been neglecting him by pretty much showing how different their relationship was from when they were boyfriend and girlfriend to when they were husband and wife. Before they were married, they spent their time together, having fun, traveling etc. After they were married, Mavis focused solemnly on Dennis and didn't pay much attention to her husband since she was so busy trying to shelter their son all the time. As such, when they were at the skatepark, things were like how they were before Mavis became all protective, and Johnny got caught up in the moment and slipped up by calling her his girlfriend instead of his wife. But now that Dennis revealed himself to be a vampire, Mavis no longer has to be so protective all the time and can spend less time worrying about him and spend more time with her husband so things could get back to normal. The subliminal message her was showing how Mavis was going too far with her overprotectiveness and how much time she was actually spending keeping her son safe. She was also most likely exhausting herself all the time trying to do both a human and a vampire schedule. This was another subliminal message that was shown how Drac's lullaby put her to sleep as well.

In the end, everyone got what they wanted. Drac got to keep his family, Dennis got to stay at the hotel, Johnny got his wife back, Mavis got to stop worrying about her son so much, Vlad came to accept humans, and Johnny's family came to accept monsters.

See you really need to pay attention to the subliminal messages, because they really reveal a lot with just a few words or implications. The "lack of chemistry" between Mavis and Johnny was due to Mavis spending all her time and energy trying to keep Dennis safe all the time. But now that she knows Dennis is a vampire, that's no longer necessary, so things can go back to normal.

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i was trying to being funny... wow...

also not sure how any of this relates to my post check who you reply to next time kk thnx bai.

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That was more for the OP.

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well next time reply to the op not someone down the line :P

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I did, but sometimes iMDB just posts it at the bottom of the board anyway. *shrug*

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😀

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Watcher, you could be right in some instances, however I think you are mostly waaaaay over analyzing a typical kid's movie.

I took Johnny calling Mavis his girlfriend as just one (of many) examples of his immature mindset. Also, when one sits down to watch a kid's movie there's not really any reason to believe that there will be any "subliminal messages" hidden within the plot. Adult jokes/references, sure, but I don't believe this movie goes as deep as you're trying to make it go.

I've never fooled anyone. I've let people fool themselves.

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[deleted]

Yeah, I've been told that I do that. But then again, writers but more adult things in kid/family movies sometimes for the adults while those messages go over kids' heads.

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watcher101 said

-------------- Begin message -------------------
This is subliminal messaging, and you seemed to miss it.

Johnny calling Mavis his girlfriend was, I guess you could say, a flashback to when they first started out. When they first got together at the end of the 1s movie, they went out to see the world, having rode trips, enjoying themselves, etc. She was his girlfriend back then, so he would introduce her as such.

After they got married, they obviously had Dennis very quickly. Once Dennis was born, Mavis became VERY protective of him because she thought he was human. As such, she spent all her time sheltering him and trying to work around a schedule that did both vampire and human lifestyles. As a result, she ended up neglecting her husband and spending all her time and attention on their son. This was indicated when she cancelled her and Johnny's date night, and Johnny texted her at how he needed some love too. That was subliminal messaging of how Mavis was neglecting him by focusing all her attention on protecting their son.

Mavis obviously let her overprotectiveness get out of hand to the extent that Johnny didn't know how to go against it. This was why Drac called him a wimp. In fact, one of the reasons why Dennis was a "late fanger" was because Mavis sheltered him so much that he was never able to reach his potential. Johnny pointed this out during the family argument by indicating how she never gave Dennis the chance to be anything more than human. The actual dialogue was:
Mavis - "He's likes avocados."
Johnny - "That's because you never gave him the chance to try anything else."
That was more subliminal messaging of how Mavis' overprotective nature was holding Dennis back from reaching his potential and being what he was really meant to be. This was the reverse of what Drac was doing by trying to push Dennis into being a vampire. While he was pushing to hard too fast, Mavis was holding him back. In a way, she ended up doing what her father did to her. Like father, like daughter, far too protective.

Anyway, getting back to the "girlfriend" comment from Johnny, I already pointed out how Mavis was neglecting Johnny because she was trying to keep her son safe all the time. Johnny basically wanted his wife back, but didn't know how to go against her protective nature, so he just went along with whatever. But when they were fooling around on the bikes, it was like old times again, like back when they were boyfriend and girlfriend traveling around the world. Johnny got caught up in the moment and slipped back into that old routine by introducing Mavis as his girlfriend rather than his wife. The subliminal message here was meant to demonstrate just how much Mavis had been neglecting him by pretty much showing how different their relationship was from when they were boyfriend and girlfriend to when they were husband and wife. Before they were married, they spent their time together, having fun, traveling etc. After they were married, Mavis focused solemnly on Dennis and didn't pay much attention to her husband since she was so busy trying to shelter their son all the time. As such, when they were at the skatepark, things were like how they were before Mavis became all protective, and Johnny got caught up in the moment and slipped up by calling her his girlfriend instead of his wife. But now that Dennis revealed himself to be a vampire, Mavis no longer has to be so protective all the time and can spend less time worrying about him and spend more time with her husband so things could get back to normal. The subliminal message her was showing how Mavis was going too far with her overprotectiveness and how much time she was actually spending keeping her son safe. She was also most likely exhausting herself all the time trying to do both a human and a vampire schedule. This was another subliminal message that was shown how Drac's lullaby put her to sleep as well.

In the end, everyone got what they wanted. Drac got to keep his family, Dennis got to stay at the hotel, Johnny got his wife back, Mavis got to stop worrying about her son so much, Vlad came to accept humans, and Johnny's family came to accept monsters.

See you really need to pay attention to the subliminal messages, because they really reveal a lot with just a few words or implications. The "lack of chemistry" between Mavis and Johnny was due to Mavis spending all her time and energy trying to keep Dennis safe all the time. But now that she knows Dennis is a vampire, that's no longer necessary, so things can go back to normal.

-------------- End message -----------------------

Not to be fair but I disagree on some of what you say. And also: "Dennis won't be happy..." is it about Dennis or you wanting to stay in the one where you could be your...somewhat annoyin' self? And despite age, he's a Mr. "I'm-afraid-say-anything-'cause-I'm-a-henpeck".
--
*nya* *purr* 

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Well yeah, and I haven't seen him once telling his wife that he also doesn't want to leave the hotel. He went so far to pair up with Drac to a stupid plan but can't speak up in front of his wife?


---
Lincoln Lee: I lost a partner.
Peter Bishop: I lost a universe!

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That's because there really wasn't any arguing with Mavis' overprotective nature. Even her father and Dennis were intimidated by her. He did find his voice (a bit) during the family argument though.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

[deleted]

am I the only one not surprised? It always seems to happen in movie sequels that Person A (let's say Mavis) is over protective of her own off-spring like her dad was for her. It happened in Disney's TLM 2 (Ariel did the exactly the same thing that her dad did..)

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When sequels receive new characters, some old charaters must be gone or lose space.

Now that they're married, Johnny is just relaxed, he doesn't have to seduce Mavis and call attention anymore.

I was indeed worried about the child. In HT1 we have Johnny being the surprise, he teaches monsters how to have fun in a party and they like it, we have Mavis as a young adult wanting to discover the world and have fun, and Drac as the boring overprotective father that wanna blunder them.

In HT2 Drac accepts them, they are married and have a child. Mavis started very boring as a mother, she was saved when she's taken away from Denis and is finally able to be shown discovering the human world. Johnny on the other hand doesn't have anymore anything new to show, monsters already know him and know about parties, he's married and doesn't have to seduce Mavis anymore. There's nothing interesting left for him, so he loses space.

Denis even call Drac papa. The discussion between Drac and Mavis makes it look like Drac is the father of Denis. Johnny barely express his opinion and never enforces it.

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