Vacation - directed by John Francis Daley & Jonathan M Goldstein
Starring: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, Chris Hemsworth, Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins, Catherine Missal, Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Charlie Day, Rin Livingston, Norman Reedus, Keegan-Michael Key, Regina Hall, Colin Hanks, Hannah Davis, Nick Kroll, Michael Pena, Charlie Day
Running Time: 99 minutes
Rated: R13 - frequent profanity, a topless woman and brief male nudity
We are almost on sacred ground with this one.
"National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983) was one of a host of movies I caught in the years when I was a pre-teen and teenager.
School holiday movies back then tended to be movies like "Red Dawn", "Rambo: First Blood Part 2", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Back to the Future" and "E.T" but there was also the kind of raunchy (for a twelve year old) comedy stuff that I am sure my parents were not aware I was seeing.
Things like "Stripes", "Return of the Living Dead" and yes - "National Lampoons Vacation".
I developed an instant crush on Christie Brinkley and became a fan of Chevy Chase which would pay off two short years later when I saw "Fletch"- to this day still my favourite comedy of all time.
So even though this new Vacation flick isn't a remake and is in fact a sequel it still feels like it is treading on some childhood memories a bit.
I say a bit because there have been a host of sequels already and not single one is remotely as good as the original.
It is hard to be too invested when the failure rate it so high.
It doesn't take long for "Vacation" to announce itself as yet another remake/reboot/sequel to drop on the failure pile.
After a mildly amusing credit photo montage we begin with the introduction of Rusty Griswald- Clark Griswald's (Chevy Chase) son from the first round of Vacation flicks from the eighties.
Rusty is now grown up in the form of Ed Helms and is a pilot on Econo-Air - a very low rent, short haul domestic airline.
With a hit rate of about 1 in 4 the jokes in the first scene set the tone.
What also becomes obvious within the first half hour is that all of the best moments were shown in the trailer and the numerous pre-release clips.
We meet Rusty's family- wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and sons James (Skyler Gisondo) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins)
If only the script was as original and intriguing as the names of the actors.
But no- this follows the exact same playbook as the first two Vacation movies.
That's fine of course - we expect it from Die Hard movies, Hangover movies..... you name it... it is perfectly fine to stick to the tried and true.
Just so long as you do something good with the formula.
Laughs that land would be a good start.
As the family departs for Walley World of course they have an utter crap-box of a car to do it in as they stop off at key locations along the way.
There is a woman in red Ferrari, marital tension and of course horrible relatives.
In this case they are one of the few saving graces - Chris Hemsworth and Leslie Mann as Rusty's sister and brother in law.
Hemsworth has the biggest laugh in the movie by far.
Cameos play a big part but with the exception of Hemsworth they are all wasted.
Colin Hanks, Charlie Day, Michael Pena, Norman Reedus.... all completely wasted in scenes that don't raise more than a smile of recognition and a sense of anticipation that we are about to get a laugh.
We rarely do.
I got a serious case of "Fantastic Four" flashback watching this movie.
There is nothing too terrible about the filmmaking- just the script.
Jokes that must have appeared to be dead certain riots on the page do not translate to the screen.
In fact the only main element that works is the relationship between the Griswald boys.
The younger kid is a foul mouthed bully who delivers some actual funny moments as he mercilessly picks on his older brother ruining his chances with a girl and screwing with his life generally.
But overall I struggle to recall more than a half dozen moments that made me laugh.
Applegate trying to relive her wild college years almost works while Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo's cameo's only serve to highlight how far we are from the good old days when Vacation movies were hits.
This year I have only seen two major release movies that shine brightly in the comedy stakes - "Spy" and "Trainwreck" and they really show up those that don't.
Both movies have some weaknesses in the plotting and pacing but each more than makes up for it with an abundance of great jokes and funny scenes.
"Vacation" has weak plotting that follows the original movie far too closely and seems to rely on the audience recognising the moments with nostalgic glee.
It only works if you are laughing as you do so.
In this instance I sat there almost grimacing as scene after scene fell flat.
Applegate and Helms deserve better material.
The former is trying to fill the shoes of D'Angelo who was far better at playing a housewife still possessing a well supressed wild streak.
Applegate is more than up to the task - refer to "Married With Children", "The Sweetest Thing" and "Anchorman" - but she has absolutely nothing to work with here.
I struggle to find too much good to say about "Vacation".
It isn't close to funny enough and employs far too many plot devices that appear designed to pay off big later but never do.
Clark's pilot nemesis (Ron Livingston) comes the closest without actually succeeding but what is it with the constant use of the Seal song "Kiss From A Rose"?
It is a bizarre inclusion presumably intended to fulfill some sort of contractual obligation for Ed Helms to sing.
Helms seems to have difficulty playing outside of the same character that we have seen him play in "The Office", "Cedar Rapids" and to a lesser extent The Hangover movies.
The singing in "Vacation" further removes Rusty and replaces him with Ed.
He is supposed to be the grown up Rusty - surely they could have imagined a better version that just another well meaning, destined to always lose nice guy?
An early scene has Rusty assuring his movie family that this vacation is not the same as the old one.
Yeah.... maybe that shouldn't have been highlighted.
"Vacation" would be disappointing if it wasn't so unsurprisingly weak.
RATING: 65 / 100
CONCLUSION: Like the long trip at the centre of the story "Vacation" is a largely joyless trial to a destination that wasn't worth the journey or the expense.
Starring: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, Chris Hemsworth, Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins, Catherine Missal, Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Charlie Day, Rin Livingston, Norman Reedus, Keegan-Michael Key, Regina Hall, Colin Hanks, Hannah Davis, Nick Kroll, Michael Pena, Charlie DayRunning Time: 99 minutes
Rated: R13 - frequent profanity, a topless woman and brief male nudity
We are almost on sacred ground with this one.
"National Lampoon's Vacation" (1983) was one of a host of movies I caught in the years when I was a pre-teen and teenager.
School holiday movies back then tended to be movies like "Red Dawn", "Rambo: First Blood Part 2", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Back to the Future" and "E.T" but there was also the kind of raunchy (for a twelve year old) comedy stuff that I am sure my parents were not aware I was seeing.
Things like "Stripes", "Return of the Living Dead" and yes - "National Lampoons Vacation".
I developed an instant crush on Christie Brinkley and became a fan of Chevy Chase which would pay off two short years later when I saw "Fletch"- to this day still my favourite comedy of all time.
So even though this new Vacation flick isn't a remake and is in fact a sequel it still feels like it is treading on some childhood memories a bit.
I say a bit because there have been a host of sequels already and not single one is remotely as good as the original.
It is hard to be too invested when the failure rate it so high.
It doesn't take long for "Vacation" to announce itself as yet another remake/reboot/sequel to drop on the failure pile.
After a mildly amusing credit photo montage we begin with the introduction of Rusty Griswald- Clark Griswald's (Chevy Chase) son from the first round of Vacation flicks from the eighties.
Rusty is now grown up in the form of Ed Helms and is a pilot on Econo-Air - a very low rent, short haul domestic airline.
With a hit rate of about 1 in 4 the jokes in the first scene set the tone.
What also becomes obvious within the first half hour is that all of the best moments were shown in the trailer and the numerous pre-release clips.
We meet Rusty's family- wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and sons James (Skyler Gisondo) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins)
If only the script was as original and intriguing as the names of the actors.
But no- this follows the exact same playbook as the first two Vacation movies.
That's fine of course - we expect it from Die Hard movies, Hangover movies..... you name it... it is perfectly fine to stick to the tried and true.
Just so long as you do something good with the formula.
Laughs that land would be a good start.
As the family departs for Walley World of course they have an utter crap-box of a car to do it in as they stop off at key locations along the way.
There is a woman in red Ferrari, marital tension and of course horrible relatives.
In this case they are one of the few saving graces - Chris Hemsworth and Leslie Mann as Rusty's sister and brother in law.
Hemsworth has the biggest laugh in the movie by far.
 |
| Of the cameos and re-imagined moments only Chris Hemsworths really delivers |
Colin Hanks, Charlie Day, Michael Pena, Norman Reedus.... all completely wasted in scenes that don't raise more than a smile of recognition and a sense of anticipation that we are about to get a laugh.
We rarely do.
I got a serious case of "Fantastic Four" flashback watching this movie.
There is nothing too terrible about the filmmaking- just the script.
Jokes that must have appeared to be dead certain riots on the page do not translate to the screen.
In fact the only main element that works is the relationship between the Griswald boys.
The younger kid is a foul mouthed bully who delivers some actual funny moments as he mercilessly picks on his older brother ruining his chances with a girl and screwing with his life generally.
But overall I struggle to recall more than a half dozen moments that made me laugh.
Applegate trying to relive her wild college years almost works while Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo's cameo's only serve to highlight how far we are from the good old days when Vacation movies were hits.
 |
| Every single one of these should have been far better, far funnier scenes |
Both movies have some weaknesses in the plotting and pacing but each more than makes up for it with an abundance of great jokes and funny scenes.
"Vacation" has weak plotting that follows the original movie far too closely and seems to rely on the audience recognising the moments with nostalgic glee.
It only works if you are laughing as you do so.
In this instance I sat there almost grimacing as scene after scene fell flat.
Applegate and Helms deserve better material.
The former is trying to fill the shoes of D'Angelo who was far better at playing a housewife still possessing a well supressed wild streak.
Applegate is more than up to the task - refer to "Married With Children", "The Sweetest Thing" and "Anchorman" - but she has absolutely nothing to work with here.
 |
| Griswald family 2015 - not a patch on Granddad and the crew |
It isn't close to funny enough and employs far too many plot devices that appear designed to pay off big later but never do.
Clark's pilot nemesis (Ron Livingston) comes the closest without actually succeeding but what is it with the constant use of the Seal song "Kiss From A Rose"?
It is a bizarre inclusion presumably intended to fulfill some sort of contractual obligation for Ed Helms to sing.
Helms seems to have difficulty playing outside of the same character that we have seen him play in "The Office", "Cedar Rapids" and to a lesser extent The Hangover movies.
The singing in "Vacation" further removes Rusty and replaces him with Ed.
He is supposed to be the grown up Rusty - surely they could have imagined a better version that just another well meaning, destined to always lose nice guy?
An early scene has Rusty assuring his movie family that this vacation is not the same as the old one.
Yeah.... maybe that shouldn't have been highlighted.
"Vacation" would be disappointing if it wasn't so unsurprisingly weak.
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