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Ugh. Stay away from this stinker.
This is a generational sequel to the original Lampoon's Vacation of the 80's, where Rusty Griswold, all grown up into a goober of a husband and dad, takes his family on a cross country road trip to Wally World. But where the original succeeded hilariously, this one crashes and burns. Chevy Chase played a doofus of a dad, near the height of his comedic career, with great screen presence and comedic timing. Ed Helms' dad character is more of a goober, more uncomfortably awkward to watch than funny entertaining. Christina Applegate does fine as the mom, and the two boys actually do a very good job as the kids. But the script that is written for them lets them down. One of the worst was watching Christina Applegate's character try to rub a spray painted penis off the side of their car with spit and her hands.
Where the situational comedy of the first was edgy, quirky, and funny, in this one it's intentionally and gratuitously gross (i.e. swimming in raw sewage), and sad. Viewers end up feeling more pity for the characters.
There are some actual laugh out loud moments, and Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo redeem the latter portion with some classic Lampoon comedy. (i.e. Chevy absent-mindedly cleaning a window, but spraying cleaner out the open window)
I give :15: out of :5:, and don't bother with this one unless it's the only thing on broadcast TV and you're just wasting time.
This is a generational sequel to the original Lampoon's Vacation of the 80's, where Rusty Griswold, all grown up into a goober of a husband and dad, takes his family on a cross country road trip to Wally World. But where the original succeeded hilariously, this one crashes and burns. Chevy Chase played a doofus of a dad, near the height of his comedic career, with great screen presence and comedic timing. Ed Helms' dad character is more of a goober, more uncomfortably awkward to watch than funny entertaining. Christina Applegate does fine as the mom, and the two boys actually do a very good job as the kids. But the script that is written for them lets them down. One of the worst was watching Christina Applegate's character try to rub a spray painted penis off the side of their car with spit and her hands.
Where the situational comedy of the first was edgy, quirky, and funny, in this one it's intentionally and gratuitously gross (i.e. swimming in raw sewage), and sad. Viewers end up feeling more pity for the characters.
There are some actual laugh out loud moments, and Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo redeem the latter portion with some classic Lampoon comedy. (i.e. Chevy absent-mindedly cleaning a window, but spraying cleaner out the open window)
I give :15: out of :5:, and don't bother with this one unless it's the only thing on broadcast TV and you're just wasting time.
