“Vacation” follows Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms), Clark W.
Griswold’s (Chevy Chase) now adult son, as he takes his family on a cross
country vacation to bring them closer together, much like his father tried to
do in the first film. They even pick the same destination as the first time,
Walley World, a fictional amusement park. With his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate)
and two sons James (Skyler Gisondo) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins) at his side,
the Griswold family travels from Chicago to California following the same route
as the original film. It feels very familiar, by look, but the huge difference
is its cast.
Debbie Griswold goes in a different and newer
direction than Ellen Griswold, reprised by Beverly D’Angelo. Obias noted, “While
D’Angelo played a milquetoast and timid wife, Applegate gives her character
Debbie some life. Instead of being the voice of reason, she’s more willing to
get dirty in the film’s hijinks and schemes.” However, the problem of “Vacation”
is from Ed Helms’ Rusty Griswold, who is good hearted, but lacks the same charm
and comedic timing Chevy Chase had with Clark Griswold. It gets worse with the
kids. James is a sensitive and awkward teenager, while his younger brother
Kevin is just harsh and aggravating. Obias admitted, “Every moment that Kevin
is on screen is so excruciating and ill-conceived that it makes me wonder if
the filmmakers had any clue how this character was going register with an
audience. Aside from Christina Applegate, who has some real comedic chops, a
majority of Vacation is really hard to swallow and watch. And awkwardly
shifting in a movie theater seat is not an ideal way to watch a
“laugh-a-minute” comedy that Vacation would like to be.”
Most of the comedy just doesn’t work, which is strange
because the premise sets up its characters to go from crazy moment to crazy
moment. It’s one of those movies that starts to tank after the opening credits,
which has real-life strange Family Portrait-style vacation photos with the song
of Lindsey Buckingham’s Holiday Road, which makes you feel
nostalgic. There were some real laughs and surprises in that opening credits
scene and it’s a shame that the rest of “Vacation” doesn’t follow that.
“Vacation” never really hits a pace of story or
laughs, but a very short set piece with Rusty’s sister Audrey (Leslie Mann) and
her husband Stone Crandall (Chris Hemsworth) giving some laughs off and on. Obias
noted, “But it really seems that they’re the standouts in Vacation for a
possible spin-off one day.” “Vacation” also has some smart moments where it
sees that it’s a reboot of an older film franchise, but that self-referential
humor goes away as soon as it’s brought up. Notably, Rusty looks at old family
photos at the beginning of the film and we see all the different actors who
played Audrey and Rusty through the years. Obias ended his review by noting, “Despite
that clever streak, it’s no surprise that John Francis Daley and Jonathan M.
Goldstein were also the writers of Horrible Bosses and Horrible Bosses 2, two
comedies that are mean-spirited, laughless, and just plain tedious to watch,
much like the new Vacation — which is also painful, and ugly.”
As you might have expected, this film is the worst in
the franchise. After how bad the last one was, did they really need to make
another? This one was just a pain to sit through. Just do yourself a favor and
never see this. Especially if you loved the original. This will just hurt you
from first minute to last. You will regret ever putting this on after watching
this tragedy.
Well, now we have come to the end of “National Lampoon
Month.” Sorry to end this off on such a bad note, but that’s what happens. Stay
tuned next month to see what I will review next.
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