Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Please continue pre-release discussion here.

Movie:
"Vacation" (Starring: Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Chris Hemsworth, Leslie Mann, Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo)

Release Date:
7/29/15

Rating:
R (for crude and sexual content, language, and brief graphic nudity throughout.)

Running Time:
99m. (1h. 39m.)

Budget:
$50 million (estimated)

IMDb Synopsis:


IMDb Info and Rating:
0.0 (0 votes as of 7/26/15

Rotten Tomatoes:
Fresh:00 Rotten:00 (% as of 7/26/15)

Metacritic:
00 metascore ('No reviews' as of 7/26/15)

Trailer:
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//v.traileraddict.com/101720" allowfullscreen="true" webkitallowfullscreen="true" mozallowfullscreen="true" scrolling="no"></iframe>

Poster Art:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...8/vacation.jpg

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

- Variety: http://variety.com/2015/film/reviews...ew-1201547024/

Sounds like what I was worried about. Way to crass and out of line of the series. Not that I don't like those types of movies. It just doesn't fit this franchise.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

You know, critically Horrible Bosses 2 was slammed and I actually enjoyed that more than the first, so I'll judge it on its own merits. But I doubt I'll see it in theaters. I do agree it doesn't fit the franchise though.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

One of its "own merits" is the attempt to capitalize on the reputation of the franchise. So, judging it on its own merits must include that factor.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Just saw the trailer. I'm sad that I live in a world where anyone would willingly watch that film, or agree to participate in it.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Indeed, I guess that doesn't carry all that much weight with me.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

So, being a fan of National Lampoon's Vacation and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, I took a chance on this and saw the first showing at 7:00 last night. There were exactly 10 people in the crowd, including me, but that's probably because it was a weekday crowd.

Bottom line? This is on par with Vegas Vacation, in terms of laughs. When's John Hughes is not involved with the script, the jokes feel a little desperate. The best jokes have been shown in the TV spots and trailers. Even the best Chris Hemsworth scenes were in the trailers, and he was clearly the funniest part in the whole movie.

The Chevy Chase/Beverly D'Angelo scenes comprise, at most, 5 minutes worth of screen time. Maybe Beverly has 3 lines total. It's sad how bloated and desperate Chevy comes across now. He tried to do some slapstick about taking a guitar out of a glass case, but that fell flat.

I probably won't be watching this again. Here's how I rank the 5 movies:

1. National Lampoon's Vacation
2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
3. National Lampoon's European Vacation
4. Vacation and Vegas Vacation (tied)

(I never saw Cousin Eddie's TV movie, so I can't rate that, though I can't imagine I'm missing out)

Hey, they did reprise the "Holiday Road" theme song, like 4 times, including 2 cover versions, so that can't be bad.....But then they also recycled the Christie Brinkley/Ferrari scene (which we saw in trailers), and the destruction of the family car.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

It definitely tries too hard - a lot of mean spirited stuff that doesn't land and Helms is no substitute for Chevy in his prime (as evidenced by how lackluster his rage tirade is compared to that of the 'You're all fucked in the head' speech from the classic flick) but stuff started working for me around the time they get to the Hemsworth stuff. That was decent, the four points scene was great and Charlie Day was gold. Clark and Ellen feel tacked on and have absolutely nothing to do - Chevy just makes me sad now. It ended pretty strong though as I did really like the Walley World finale. Not a classic but I'd put it on a par with European & Vegas - nothing comes close to the brilliance of the first one though. 3/5

(although they leaned on it a bit much to hit the nostalgia button with people like me, I was pretty stoked every single time Holiday Road came on).

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Oh, great... and these are the guys who are going to fix Spider-Man? -ohbfrank-

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

I can confirm. I've been doing 7PM Thursday openings lately. NOBODY goes to those things. I remember going to a sold out midnight Avatar back in 2009. And then I went to Poltergeist a couple months ago - with 2-3 people in there with me.

The Thursday shows seem to be more of a logistics thing (setting up for Friday) more than anything. Or maybe really hyped releases sell out?

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Wow, so no one saw this yesterday?

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

I saw it. It's a turd. The original Vacation had heart. This has nothing.

The writers seem to think that just because something is taboo then that alone makes it funny and they don't have to write an actual joke. The eight year old says "fuck" a lot. Ha Ha! So funny! They bathe in poop. Ha Ha. What a lark! He hits a cow and there are buckets and buckets of blood and gore all over the place. Hilarious! These things could be funny if they were part of actual jokes, but they are just put there.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

it would have been nice if it worked, and had a different lead. The next generation of Griswold adventures could have been fun, looks like they screwed the pooch right out of the gate and this franchise will mercifully be left to wither away.

The original and Christmas Vacation will always be timeless classics.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Can't fault them for this one, it worked for a talking bear a couple years ago.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

I thought it was a good or better than Meet the Millers, which was a similar movie to me. Obviously, not as good as most Chevy Chase vacation movies. It made me laugh.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Probably going to see this tomorrow. The trailers made me laugh.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Not so much on the bear's sequel. Making nearly 120M less than the original. I'm thrilled to see that audiences are finally tired of retreads and remakes/reboots. Even though Hollywood will still keep beating a dead horse. "The Omen" and "Poltergeist" remakes bothered me the most, I have to admit.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Did anyone else notice one shot of the desert that looked exactly like the last shot of the first Terminator film?

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

I enjoyed it. I'd put it above European Vacation and way above Vegas. Below the original and Christmas though.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Just got out of seeing it. Liked it. I gave it 3 stars. Helms was fine as Rusty and I got some laughs out of it. Although I think they spoiled the funnier gags in the trailers. Especially the toxic pond, Hemsworth's junk and the hot chick in the sports car. Chase and D'Angelo were essentially relegated to a cameo appearance, but it was good to see Clark and Ellen again. Liked seeing the old Griswold station wagon later in the movie. Minor complaint, didn't like Leslie Mann as Audrey. Her mousy persona just didn't fit the Audrey character,. If they wanted to cast a known comedic actress they should have hired someone like Tina Fey. She IMO would have been a good Audrey, but would have been wasted since the movie isn't about her. Most likely this is a one time only watch, but it wasn't terrible like some reviews said it is. Liked the nostalgia factor of it.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

We saw this and liked it. A lot of the funny bit were in the trailers, but there were a bunch left that was fresh. The car got continual laughs from me. the crazy European plug, the fob buttons... I really thought there was going to be a payoff to the swastika. The bath tub in the hotel got me good.

There were multiple callbacks to the first Vacation. Just little touches, like how Rusty mentions that his trip to the Grand Canyon was very short.

It wasn't ground breaking but it was fun. Debbie Do-Anything scene was a good bit for Applegate. Also, Hemsworth's strange faucet analogies had me rolling.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

This was ok. Some jokes that weren't spoiled in the trailers, but overall most of the good stuff was already seen. I love Leslie Mann, but I do agree, she isn't Audrey. For a moment I really thought Mann was playing Applegate's sister. Wish there was more Clark and Ellen scenes but man Chevy was hard to watch at times. Loved him on Community, but whoever wrote his lines didn't do him justice at all.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

Just saw it. It was just ok. A few chuckle moments, but no real LOL moments. Jokes just kind of happened, felt pretty disjointed. The oldest son was made painfully awkward and it was just uncomfortable.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

I wish they would have swapped out Audrey for Cousin Vicki and had Jane Krakowski reprise the role.

Re: Vacation (Daley and Goldstein, 2015) — The Reviews Thread
 

A friend had movie passes for this. We went and saw this and then The Gift. I enjoyed this for what it was. It wasn't bad. I agree, with a few other posters on Leslie Mann as Audrey, didn't like it.