The Vacation Movie Review

The Griswold are going on holiday but to spice things up a little Rusty decides to take his family to the same theme park that his dad took him to 32 years ago.

This calls for another trip to Wally World, where everything that can go wrong will do. Opting out of flying to spend some quality time with his family the Griswold encounter sewage pits, young love and questionable truck drivers. How they will make it there I will never know.

Although it shares many similarities: nostalgic holiday pictures at the start, slap stick humour and an iconic tune, this modern re-make denies most of the affiliations with the 1983 film. It even goes as far as to acknowledges but differentiates itself from it, a joke that I’m guessing quite a few of the younger audience missed.

It does well to maintain this level of humour throughout without getting too dull. Starting the show it some light boob jokes and a prompt to change his usual holiday destination, Mr Griswold (Ed Helms) takes his wife (Christina Applegate) and two kids (Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins) on a road trip across America to Wally World.

Following their journey there is nothing that stands out too much. Say that, I do look back on my ‘sexual education’ and am glad that I didn’t learn the meaning of the phrase “rim job” from my parents. Again for me poo jokes are rated very high so swimming in sewage is entertaining and makes a good reason to lose their luggage.

Their lack of junk is made up for in a very revealing scene with Chris Hemsworth who almost gets to show his full range of… talent. To give it an extra surprise we get to see what Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) does while he is not surviving zombies. Although both of these guys have very little screen time they do make a good reason to go and see this film.

Another nice little ‘easter egg’ for those who might not be aware is the brief appearance of Chevy Chase (National Lampoon’s Vacation). Not only does he add a bit of nostalgia for the classic but also he re-affirms our family values and the whole reason for the film.

Thinking back on the film there were a couple of story lines that were not completed. I don’t know if this was intentional or if they just didn’t make the final cut. Either way it would have been nice to find out if James (Skyler Gisondo) does get the girl and if his did had anything to do with this.

This is a clear improvement on the previous film but it really wont be a film I tell my friends about. It’s a light comedy, something you don’t have to think about too much. I don’t think it will clear those ‘back to school blues’ but could be something fun to go see with the family for a bit of a laugh. Interestingly this firmly shows the age gap of the last 32 years: technologically and socially. But poo jokes are still funny and so is taboo sex.

The movie stars Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins, Chris Hemsworth, Leslie Mann & Chevy Chase and is in UK cinemas now!

Written by Chuckie @ChuckieGinger exclusively for MARKMEETS.COM

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Brian Ferdinando aka Chuckie joined us and has delivered outstanding work. The Gaming Vlogger is a sharp hand with a camera (In front and behind it) with slick editing skills too.

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