Vacation (2015) review

In September of 1979, humor magazine National Lampoon published a short story by iconic 80’s film director John Hughes titled “Vacation ‘58” which was inspired by a family trip that he had taken with his family when he was younger to Disneyland. Four years later, Harold Ramis directed a film written by Hughes based on his original short story. Starring Chevy Chase as the enthusiastic but borderline crazy Clark Griswold, who embarks a series of misadventures with his wife Ellen (Beverly D’Angelo) and their two kids, Rusty and Audrey, as they take a cross-country trip to California to visit the theme park Walley World, ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ became one of the most famous comedies of the decade, spawning a full franchise of films starring Chase, D’Angelo, and continuously changing actors/actresses in the roles of Rusty and Audrey. While both the immediate follow-up ‘European Vacation’ and the 1997 sequel ‘Vegas Vacation’ weren’t as well liked by critics and audiences, the 1989 entry ‘Christmas Vacation’ is now considered as a modern holiday classic. Almost two whole decades after the last official ‘Vacation’ film, the series returns again with a brand new film simply titled ‘Vacation’. Though for the record it is not a remake of the original film, even though it does share the same primary plot. Instead, it is a sequel that now centers on a grown-up Rusty Griswold as he goes on the same road trip that he took with his family 30 years ago. The end result is a solidly funny comedy that pays homage to the legacy of the franchise while also doing its own thing as a ‘modern update’. 

30 years after the events of the original ‘Vacation’, Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) has become a pilot for a low-rated airline company and has raised a family of his own, living in Chicago with his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and their two sons James (Skyler Gisondo) and Kevin (Steele Stebbins). Recognizing that the family has become rather dysfunctional, to the point where younger brother Kevin constantly bullies his older brother James, Rusty decides against the idea of the family going on the same trip to their cabin in Sheboygan, Wisconsin that they had been taking every year around this time. Instead, he decides to take them on the same cross-country road trip that he had taken with his parents Clark and Ellen (Chase and D’Angelo reprise their roles in cameo appearances) and sister Audrey (played here by Leslie Mann) 30 years earlier to Walley World in California. Taking off in their new rental car, the Tartan Prancer (the ‘Honda of Albania’), Rusty and his family begin their cross-country road-trip to Walley World, which Rusty hopes will allow the family to reconnect. However, just like that original Vacation that he took with his family back when he was a kid, what is intended to be a nice little family road trip ends up becoming a nightmare as Rusty and his family end up in a series of misadventures on the long journey to Walley World.

Even as a film that follows the same plot of the original ‘Vacation’ film from 1983, which of course results in a few meta jokes including the one from the trailer in which Rusty declares that ‘the new Vacation will stand on its own’, this new ‘Vacation’ film actually does manage to stand on its own by not following the exact same beats of the original. Of course, being a part of this long-running franchise, there are obviously a few callbacks to the original, from the use of the iconic tune ‘Holiday Road’ to even an appearance by the classic Family Truckster station wagon. But on a positive note, they don’t overshadow the film at all and are pretty subtle in terms of execution. As far as the humor is concerned, overall I’d say that it’s a pretty darn funny film. No, not every single joke hit but there are definitely quite a few major ‘laugh-out-loud’ moments in the film, from the opening credits (and the beginning of the end credits) in which we see much more than one would expect out of seemingly nice family vacation pictures to a fight sequence right at the end of the film involving the Griswolds and the family of a rival pilot (Ron Livingston). Compared to the original film which, while rated R, is fairly tame by today’s standards, this ‘Vacation’ opts for much raunchier humor but even then there have been comedies that have been far raunchier than this one. In other words, this new ‘Vacation’, like the original, is actually rather tame by today’s standards.   

  

Obviously Chevy Chase was one of the key elements that made the previous ‘Vacation’ films so successful. Sure at the end of the day, Clark Griswold may have been a womanizer and a bit of an asshole but his unnerving optimism even in the face of extreme adversity actually managed to make him rather charming and relatable. Ed Helms is a solid successor to Chase in the lead role of Rusty as he carries the same confident and optimistic attitude of his father to a fault. And considering that Rusty isn’t a womanizer like his father, he’s also arguably the more likable lead. Helms has great chemistry with Christina Applegate, who also gets some really hilarious material to work with, primarily when it comes to the reveal that Debbie used to live a wild lifestyle during her college years. Both of their sons are also great as well, especially Steele Stebbins as younger brother Kevin in a rare case where the younger brother is the one bullying the older brother and not the other way around. And of course, like any ‘Vacation’ film, there are also some extremely memorable cameos. The most notable is ‘Thor’ AKA Chris Hemsworth as Stone Crandall, the husband of Audrey (Leslie Mann is unfortunately underused here despite being in the role of one of the series’ main characters) who of course loves to show off his six-pack abs. And of course, this wouldn’t be a ‘Vacation’ film without a cameo by Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo as Clark and Ellen Griswold.  

‘Vacation’ may carry the same plotline of its 1983 predecessor but it is not a remake and because of that, it is able to do its own thing and it does that quite well. This film may currently only carry a 28% on Rotten Tomatoes (which certainly means that you’re going to be hearing a lot of fanboys on the internet complain about how the directors, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, are slated to write the screenplay for the next ‘Spider-Man’ film) but I thought that it was pretty darn funny. No I don’t think that it’s the best comedy of the year but as someone who may not have grown up with the franchise but likes both the original ‘Vacation’ and ‘Christmas Vacation’, I think that this film is a worthy successor to those films and continues the franchise’s tradition of celebrating both family and Americana even amidst some of the more mean-spirited bits of humor. And on that note, yes the humor can be quite raunchy at times so it’s not for everyone. But ultimately I thought that it worked out fine here and it isn’t even that overt when compared to some of the other R-rated comedies that have come out over the years. If you’re a fan of any of the other ‘Vacation’ films, then you’re definitely going to like this new film that continues the tradition of having the Griswold family go through all sorts of chaotic misadventures on what were just meant to be simple family vacations. They may be going through all sorts of hell on-screen but for us, the audience, it’s another fun little trip on the ‘Holiday Road’.  

Rating: 4/5

2015 Preview: July

We’re now halfway through both the Summer Movie Season and 2015 as a whole, which has already given us some incredibly entertaining films, including ‘Jurassic World’, which now holds the record for the biggest opening weekend of all-time both domestically and worldwide and is the third film of the year to join the billion dollar club. While we probably won’t get another film this summer that will match those numbers, there’s still quite a lot to look forward to, especially when it comes to this July. Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s year-long preview of the films that are set to come out in 2015. This is Part 7 of 12 and today we’ll be looking at the lineup of films that are hitting theaters in July. Quite a lot to talk about this month so let’s get started…

JULY 1- The month actually starts out early on Wednesday the 1^st with the return of a classic 80’s film franchise and the sequel to one of 2012’s big summer hits.

*Director Alan Taylor (‘Thor: The Dark World’) continues the ‘Terminator’ franchise with ‘Terminator: Genisys’ (And yes that spelling is intentional). Basically the film re-tells the original story of the first ‘Terminator’ film but from a new perspective. In a future where humanity is at war with machines, the human resistance, led by John Connor (Jason Clarke), uncover a plot by Skynet to send a Terminator back in time to kill John’s mother Sarah (Emilia Clarke). One of Connor’s soldiers, Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), volunteers to go back in time to save her but when he travels back in time to the year 1984, he finds that things are now different and that Sarah is now trained in combat by another Terminator (played by series star Arnold Schwarzenegger), who has been protecting her since she was a child. The film also stars J.K. Simmons and Matt Smith.

*The sequel to Steven Soderbergh’s hit Summer 2012 film ‘Magic Mike’, which was based around the experiences of star Channing Tatum’s time as a stripper when he was younger, ‘Magic Mike XXL’, directed by the first film’s first assistant director Gregory Jacobs, once again sees Tatum in the role of veteran stripper “Magic” Mike Lane. In this film, Mike and his fellow strippers travel to Myrtle Beach for ‘one last show’. Also reprising their roles alongside Tatum are Matt Bomer, Joe Manganiello, and Adam Rodriguez, among others. Newcomers to the cast include Elizabeth Banks, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Donald Glover.

JULY 10- While this week will no doubt be dominated by an animated spin-off, there will also be a horror film and a sci-fi film hitting theaters this weekend as well.

*A spin-off of the hit animated films ‘Despicable Me’ and ‘Despicable Me 2’, ‘Minions’ is a prequel centering on the group of yellow henchmen known as ‘Minions’ before they met their ‘leader’ Gru. Primarily focusing on a trio of Minions named Bob, Kevin, and Stuart, the film follows the three Minions as they try and find a new master. The film’s voice cast includes Sandra Bullock, Jon Hamm, and Michael Keaton.

*The latest Blumhouse production, ‘The Gallows’ follows a group of students who attempt to resurrect an old play that hadn’t been done in 20 years ever since the last run-through ended up in the death of a student. But this then results in some other students attempting to stop the production.

*Ben Kingsley and Ryan Reynolds star in director Tarsem Singh’s latest film, ‘Self/less’. Kingsley plays a wealthy aristocrat who, on the verge of dying, undergoes an operation that transfers his soul into the body of a younger man (Reynolds). But while promised that the body is an ‘empty’ vessel, he soon learns that his new body did have a life before, which leads him into uncovering a conspiracy.  

JULY 17- On one side we have the latest from Marvel Studios while on the other we have a Judd Apatow comedy.

*Despite some early production issues stemming from the departure of original director Edgar Wright, Marvel Studios brings us the next installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ‘Ant Man’, now under the direction of Peyton Reed. Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, a criminal who gets a ‘second chance’ when he is approached by his mentor Dr. Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to help steal back valuable technology from his company with the help of special technology of his own that allows the user to shrink in size but also gain strength. The film’s cast also includes Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, and Michael Pena.

*Comedian Amy Schumer teams up with director Judd Apatow for ‘Trainwreck’. Schumer, who also wrote the film, stars as a career-driven woman who finds herself unable to commit to a relationship having been ‘taught’ that ‘monogamy isn’t realistic’ by her father. However, that all changes when she meets a doctor (Bill Hader) while on an assignment for her job. The film also stars, among others, Tilda Swinton, Brie Larson, Vanessa Bayer, and LeBron James.

JULY 24­­- Probably the biggest week of the month, this week will see the release of a film from the writer of ‘Fault in Our Stars’, a video-game inspired action comedy, and a Jake Gyllenhaal starring boxing drama.

*Based on the 2008 novel of the same name by John Green (‘The Fault in Our Stars’), ‘Paper Towns’ centers on a high-school student named Quentin (Nat Wolff) who heads out on a journey with his friends when his ‘girl next door’ Margo (Cara Delevingne) goes missing.

*Directed by Chris Columbus (first two ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Harry Potter’ films), ‘Pixels’, based off of a 2010 short film of the same name, revolves around an alien invasion of Earth in which the aliens use famous video-game characters (e.g. Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, etc.) to attack Earth. Adam Sandler, Josh Gad, and Peter Dinklage star as a group of former video game champions who are enlisted by the President (Kevin James) to defeat the aliens. The film also stars Michelle Monaghan, Jane Krakowski, and Brian Cox.

*Jake Gyllenhaal stars in director Antoine Fuqua’s latest film, ‘Southpaw’, written by ‘Sons of Anarchy’ creator Kurt Sutter. Gyllenhaal plays boxer Billy Hope, whose life goes downhill when his wife (Rachael McAdams) is accidentally killed during an altercation with another boxer. When his daughter ends up getting taken away from him, Billy starts a comeback with his new trainer (Forest Whitaker) in an attempt to reunite with his daughter. The film also stars Naomie Harris, 50 Cent, and Tyrese Gibson.

JULY 31- The follow-up to a comedy classic hits theaters early on Wednesday while the fifth film in a highly successful action franchise closes out the month.

*Opening early on Wednesday July 29^th is ‘Vacation’, the fifth installment of the ‘National Lampoon’s Vacation’ series. This time around, the film centers on the now grown-up son of Clark and Ellen Griswold (both Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo reprise their roles in cameo appearances), Rusty (Ed Helms), as he takes his family; his wife Debbie (Christina Applegate) and their sons James and Kevin (Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins, respectively), on a trip to Walley World, the same place he went to on vacation with his parents and sister 30 years earlier. The film also stars Leslie Mann as Rusty’s sister Audrey and Chris Hemsworth as her husband.

*Regular Tom Cruise collaborator Christopher McQuarrie (writer on films like ‘Valkyrie’ and ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ and director of ‘Jack Reacher’) takes on the fifth installment of the highly successful ‘Mission Impossible’ franchise with ‘Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation’. Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Jeremy Renner, and Simon Pegg all reprise their roles from previous installments as Ethan Hunt, Luther Stickell, William Brandt, and Benji Dunn, respectively, as they take on one last mission; to take down the mysterious organization known as ‘the Syndicate’ while also dealing with the impending disbandment of the IMF. The film also stars Alec Baldwin, Rebecca Ferguson, and Sean Harris.

And those are the films that will be hitting theaters this July. Check back next month for Part 8 as we’ll be closing out summer with the films of August.