Vacation (2015)

Rusty Griswold takes his own family on a road trip to “Walley World” in order to spice things up with his wife and reconnect with his sons. (IMDb)

No, it’s not a particularly clever comedy (the “what could go wrong?” formula provides most of the jokes–usually telegraphed and juvenile) and the family bonding/marital drama sub-scenes are bland (family vs. family brawl and roller-coaster sing-along–regrettably cut off–aside), but so help me, I still laughed quite a bit (a few highlights: Day’s self-destructive rafting guide, Rusty as a terrible wing-man for his son, classic Clark fumbling a guitar, hot springs mix-up, police stand-off).

6.5/10 (Alright)

 

National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

The Griswold family’s cross-country drive to the Walley World theme park proves to be much more arduous than they ever anticipated. (IMDb)

Definitely some laugh-out-loud moments, mostly thanks to Clark Griswold’s manic drive and ridiculous stubbornness, but they are too often separated by awkwardly slow scenes with bad attempts at humour. Poor joke execution aside, the 80s Americana road-trip cinematography is nice, and the film does well at building up the mishap-filled “Murphy’s Law” plot to a fittingly nuts-o climax.

6/10 (Mediocre)