Those of a certain age will remember the 'Vacation' movies of the 80s' that centred on Chevy Chase's Clark Griswold as he forcefully and repeatedly attempted to get his dysfunctional family to bond. This Ed Helms starring sequel might have come too late to really be relevant, but there are still some solid laughs to be had.
Helms is Rusty (a part played in the original by Anthony Michael Hall), a happy go lucky sort who just wants his family to re-establish that connection. Realising they're in a bit of a rut, he decides that a road trip across the country to Walley World is in order - much to their dismay. Needless to say various high jinks ensue, as the Griswold's hit more than one speed bump on the way.
While Vacation has taken a bit of a battering from critics in the US, it really does have a couple of laugh out loud moments. The bickering brothers, Chris Hemsworth and indeed Helms provide sporadic chuckles throughout, even if the film itself can't pull itself together in time to resemble anything relatively coherent. A scene at the four state line with a bunch of cameos is a particular low point, and maybe shows the lack of experience of first time helmers Francis Daley and Goldstein; the movie would've worked just fine and flowed far better without it.
What they are good at is writing a crass gag, and the volume of jokes is fairly high here as well as (refreshingly) politically incorrect. Problems arise with the road trip set up when the Griswold's run out of material and they just keep going anyway. It feels a little bloated as a result.Also, although the initial throwbacks to the original are nice touches, they might also be confusing for newbies.
Helms is immensely likeable and he and Applegate have the comic chops to make the occasionally funny script tick. The two kids are also extremely well cast and there are some really fun cameos.
The sillier the mood you're in, the more you'll enjoy this.