The Griswolds’ shows us that a lot can go wrong on a vacation.
The next generation of Griswolds is at it again. Brought to viewers by New Line Cinema, “Vacation” starring Ed Helms (of “Hangover” fame) and Christina Applegate (of “Anchorman” fame), takes the family on the road for yet another adventure. To be fair, given the history of comedy reboots and sequels in general, it’s best to go into the cinema with low or no expectations and that’s exactly what we did for the latest incarnation of “Vacation”.
The film sees Rusty Griswold (played by Ed Helms of “The Hangover” fame), wanting to recreate what his father, Clark (played by Chevy Chase, who makes a late cameo in the film), did so many years ago. Playing the role of a pushover, way-too-nice pilot for a regional airline called EconoAir, Rusty is in a rut with his family. His miserably bored yet ever-so-patient wife, Debbie (played by Christina Applegate of “Anchorman” fame), is frustrated at never going anywhere special, like Paris, while his youngest son Kevin (played by Steele Stebbins), is a little sociopath who curses like a sailor and enjoy bullying his older son, James (played by Skyler Gisondo of “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” fame), a sensitive soul who keeps way too many journals, writes poetry, and plays the guitar.
Hoping to bond with his family, Rusty rents a special van for the cross-country trip to the Wally World themepark so they can go on the Velociraptor ride together. Along the way, they face one unfortunate event after another. From stopping by Debbie’s college, where she tries to relive her sorority days to being taunted by a truck driver, to finding themselves soaking in hot springs filled with human faeces, the film is jam packed with disgusting, unnecessary, and idiotic scenes that somehow just smoothens out one another.
One of the film’s highlight is probably the visit to Rusty’s sister Audrey’s (played by Leslie Mann of “The Other Woman” fame) home. There, she and her hilarious yet gorgeous cowboy-weatherman husband Stoned Crandall (played by Chris Hemsworth) find ways to (un)subtly poke fun at Rusty and his career achievements. It was exceptionally hilarious when Crandall couldn’t help but to flaunt his junk in front of an obviously impressed Debbie (honestly, we were impressed too).
Another highlight was Rusty and Debbie trying to get frisky throughout the trip to recreate the spark in their marriage. The Griswolds’ eventually end up making their way to Wally World and on the Velociraptor ride but that doesn’t happen until after they get involved in a fight with another family.
Featuring cameos by Beverly D’Angelo, Charlie Day, Keegan-Michael Key and Regina Hall, “Vacation” turned out to be quite an enjoyable movie.
Sure it nothing new and it was rather crude with the excessive and unnecessary cursing, “Vacation” is the kind of movie that will have you laughing your butt off.
Vacation will hit cinemas near you on 27th August. Till then, check out the trailer here:
For more information, visit the movie’s official website or Facebook page.
