Vacation Reboot | Forgotten Failures

Written, Presented & Compiled by Joe Ramoni
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The Vacation franchise is owned by Warner Bros.

[@TheLukeStein]

The funniest part of the movie is that Rusty is 4 different kids in the family photos.

[@spooderman6312]

i wonder how it would feel for him if he weren't an idiot--

[@gotmybootyout5793]

Fan theory. They just kept losing Rusty and taking home a different kid.

[@spooderman6312]

@@gotmybootyout5793 and they name their new kid rusty every time

[@themysteriouscatperson9483]

@@gotmybootyout5793 That would explain why it seemed like Audrey started getting older than rusty, where in the original they were similar ages

[@phantomzone2725]

I guess even Clark (and the writers) was aware of that, because on Vegas Vacation one of his lines was “You guys are growing up so fast, I hardly recognize you anymore!”

[@robdon3472]

As soon as you said it, Jason Bateman as a grown up rusty makes so much sense. That dry sarcasm you talked about is that guys bread and butter. Damn

[@Attmay]

And it would have brought full circle the fact that Ricky’s bully on *Silver Spoons* was played by John P Navin Jr, Eddie’s son in the original film.

[@bakerfresh]

One of favorite deliveries from Bateman was on Dodgeball....you know, I talked to him backstage.............haha, that was all ...the little things

[@ringbearer1420]

That would have gotten me into the theater. Unlike Ed Helms who is a hard pass.

[@Coldoroki]

I like Ed helms actually, but Jason Bateman legit would of been perfect for this

[@keatonpotatoes4552]

As soon as he said Jason Bateman I was like, dang... That's the Rusty I want to see. I'm sad that movie doesn't exist now.

[@jwilder2251]

You’ve nailed it. John Hughes made us feel for imperfect characters bc they had heart. Modern comedies interpret that as “unlikeable = funny”. So it’s just empty gross outs, screaming, and sex jokes made for cringe.

[@hermionestranger4964]

Exactly! Clark had a lot of flaws, mostly because he was an idealist, which in itself isn't a bad thing. He tried hard to provide for his family the kind of life that we see in cheesy feel-good films and in advertising (the myth of the American Dream), kinda like a Don Quixote. A lot of the bad things that happen stem from his good intentions. Similarly, the wife is kind of a Sancho character: she tags along out of solidarity, but is also the voice of caution and safety (to an extent). No character is one-sided in the original movies. Hughes was supremely talented at writing multi-faceted characters that were sympathetic and flawed at the same time (with the only exception being maybe Home Alone, where Kevin is too young to be really "flawed"). The reboot is the polar opposite.

[@micahcook2408]

Some people and some Hollywood comedies tend to forget that some of the greatest jokes/comedy is derived from truth or being able to be true/relatable.

[@girliboi]

that and the tired trope to make kids as obnoxious as possible.. the eye-rolling/gum-snapping teen daughter with her nose in her phone and the foul-mouthed @$$h0le kid brother have been done a million times in the last 20 years, maybe come up with something new for a change..

[@micahcook2408]

@@girliboi exaaaaaactly. Studios gotta stop with being stuck on stereotypical tropes tbh, but who knows when theyll ever let go of being “safe” for money.

[@ricks.1779]

Just bad writers, part of unfunny committees, writing uninspired movies with bad actors for dumb people.

[@WhaleManMan]

This feels more like a Hangover movie than a Vacation movie.

[@GloriousGandalf]

I like the Hangover, I thought it was a pretty alright, but I hate how it pretty much defined comedy film in the 2010s. There were so many comedies that clearly tried (and usually failed) to emulate it, including it's own sequels. Everything was sacrificed for raunchy humour that you might find in a Family Guy gag. Hangover, Due Date, Vacation, Dirty Grandpa, Hall Pass, maybe even Hot Tub Time Machine even though I really liked that one, there were so many.

[@jbwarner8626]

Right down to huge swaths of the script just being the words "Ed Helms makes stupid faces and screams".

[@knowthycell]

The raunchy humor thing started as early as Something About Mary.

[@Frank074]

@@knowthycell Kingpin was awesome too

[@Pimpedout007101]

Honestly only liked Chevy chase in community so I like this more than the original National lampoons vacation

[@katie2275]

I love how he’s an airline pilot and everyone goes on about what a failure he is even thought that’s a really good job

[@mackenziek8383]

he's only a regional pilot. the joke is that he feels inferior to national pilots

[@qty1315]

I feel like people are focusing on the wrong things here, when the core problem with the movie can be explained by the ending. So, in the original Vacation movie, Clark says that he doesn't want to just get a flight to wherever they need to go because he loves his family, and the point of the vacation is to spend time with them. So, how does this movie end? Rusty decides that vacationing with his family is stupid, and he books a flight to Paris with his wife, then he leaves the kids at home while he and his wife go on a vacation by themselves. No one gets a real victory, really. I think that's a big problem with modern comedies. Life sucks, people suck, jobs suck, families suck, etc. But, that's the real world, in movies we kind of want to see happy endings and characters celebrating meaningful victories. That's what made the original movie timeless, at the end after being crapped on and losing so many battles, they finally get a victory and get to spend some time having fun in Wally World. You don't get that in the reboot.

[@UnprofessionalProfessor]

@@mackenziek8383 You just made Glenn Quagmire's constant presence at home in Quahog, despite being a pilot, make a lot more sense.

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

@@UnprofessionalProfessor That explanation makes more sense. I just assumed he mostly retired and he just occasionally flies a plane (like, one or two times a week) for fun and a little extra cash.

[@cigoLxeL]

@@UnprofessionalProfessor Nope, because one episode has Brian sniff him out and correctly deduce that he'd just come back from a flight to the Philippines, where he dined on lumpia and made love to two Filipino women. And a man.

[@masusockvevo5401]

That green flashing made me think my tv was broken lol

[@jetblack5893]

SAME

[@inthetoyroom4life]

Thought my phone was on its way out lol

[@cannonkids9241]

Bruh same with my laptop

[@JkComedy444]

literally just saw it lol

[@metalgearsalad2]

oh thank fuck i thought my monitor was dying again lmao

[@christopherwebb3517]

Rusty going through his old vacation photos be like, "Here's me in Vegas in 97 when I was 18. Here's me at home with my extended family at Christmas in 89 when I was 10. Here's me in Europe in 85 when I was 15. Here's me on the way to Wally World in 83 when I was 12..." Rusty's wife be like, "Wait! What!?"

[@ShaNaNa242]

I think he was older than 12.

[@thecensoredmuscle563]

he was like 12 or 13 in Christmas vacation. And in vacation he was around 14 or so. Then sometimes the sister is younger and other times older lol

[@spittinvenom9671]

😂

[@dannygreen5477]

U be like, trying so hard for attention and not talk so good, you caveman?

[@kenlapham5693]

It's a multiverse

[@roberttreacy8271]

Roger Ebert once said “One rule of comedy is that it’s hard to be funny when it’s obvious you’re trying to be funny. Great comedies take their premises seriously and the laughs flow naturally.” And that right there is one of the problems with Vacation (2015) and movies like it. The filmmakers favor cheap humor over heart.

[@GrayD_Fox]

Same thing Bryan Cranston said so you know it’s true

[@electricchurchmedia]

Rusty becoming a pilot and loving his job become he gets to take people on vacation for his job is already a great set up for a movie. They just failed at everything else.

[@TheWinstonSlip]

It didn’t need to be rusty if they just made the movie original it could have been good but they failed by making it a sequel to Vacation

[@Art_V101]

My least favorite is Christmas vacation,the original is clearly the best,European and Vegas are very entertaining in my opinion.The new Vacation one was definitely raunchier and I enjoyed it.Christmas Vacation 2 is a total turdburger and should not be mentioned as it is just awful.

[@lukelichtenthal5407]

@@Art_V101 Christmas Vacation was awesome!!

[@Art_V101]

I like it but compared to the other ones it's my least favorite,the original is one of my all time favorite movies,Vegas never gets super high praise but I love it.Also love European and the new Vacation.I dont dislike Christmas though!

[@wheelz-2997]

every profession has their failures.

[@Larry]

I'm atually surprised how messed up the franchise is now, they've not considered an actual Vacation movie set in 1958, a young Clarke being taken on vacation for the first time.

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

Jeez you're everywhere

[@kevincruise3521]

That's actually not a bad idea

[@jasonlewis3742]

Oh my God is that him? Is that the actual Larry? Lesuire Suit Larry, it is an honour to meet you, sir.

[@nickrustyson8124]

It's not a bad idea, but it's probably too expensive, you got period piece and it being a road trip

[@bijikedelai]

Shout out to Christina Applegate!

[@Jumbopoptv]

👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@GinoZump]

What if she was purple?

[@BeeHatGuy]

YEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!

[@gSlover4reel]

🎵 Cristina Applegate, you gotta put me on, And guess whose piece of the cake is Jack gone? 🎶

[@rjlujan1525]

@@gSlover4reel She broke her wishbone and wished for a sign, I told her whispers in my heart were fine...

[@allanjcarpenter]

“Saying things loudly doesn’t make them any funnier.” THANK YOU.

[@quangamershyguyyz7166]

It does sometimes. Depending on what’s said.

[@TheWinstonSlip]

Frasier did that a lot. Obviously it depends what is being said.

[@JDelwynn]

LOUD NOISES!

[@robotnoir5299]

lol. it was funny when you shouted "thank you".

[@welcometothemetaverse2523]

@@quangamershyguyyz7166 Delivery is key.

[@artanisknarf]

The main difference in this one is there is no “fun,” everyone is just an asshole to each other.

[@gabe_s_videos]

That's 21st century comedy in a nutshell, IMO: detached, cynical and pretentious. It's not about making people laugh, it's about proving how clever you are, and just like in real life, it's agonizingly charmless.

[@BeeHatGuy]

@@gabe_s_videos that, or the Will Ferrell/Adam Sandler/Seth Rogen schlock that's the same thing over and over

[@gabe_s_videos]

@@BeeHatGuy The interesting thing about those two actors in particular is that they're kind of like Chevy Chase, in that they're really funny when they commit to a role. When they're allowed to just "go off" or write their own movies, if not get their buddies to do so, they fail because those aren't their strengths. And you just FEEL the ego in those movies. I'll still take Will Ferrell's cynical detachment over Adam Sandler's sexism and bullying any day.

[@penske_material]

@@BeeHatGuy why would you include Seth rogen in the same paragraph as 2 comedians though?

[@gabe_s_videos]

@@penske_material probably because he’s a comedian.

[@cancerousdeadmemesvevo3650]

I've always wondered why they didn't just get Johnny Galecki. He's got to be the most well-known version of Rusty, and he obviously knows how to play the straight man to a bunch of weirdos.

[@lukelichtenthal5407]

Anthony Michael Hall would have been a good choice. Considering that Dana Barron returned to play Audrey In Christmas Vacation 2, 20 years after the fact, getting Hall back should have been no problem. Even the Goldbergs got that right.

[@Stewieboy1995]

Plus he was well known because of Big Bang so even if you didn’t realize it was him on Christmas vacation, people would have watched it and said oh that’s Leonard from Big Bang

[@Liam123-r8o]

I like Galecki but he can not carry a movie.

[@roberttreacy8271]

I agree with Joe (the reviewer) saying that Jason Bateman would’ve been a great Rusty, since Bateman makes the perfect straight man.

[@Nick-ty9us]

Look at his character from the Big Bang theory he basically does that

[@pbyguy7059]

I honestly believe that Ed Helms' career can only be explained by him owning an entire filing cabinet full of blackmail material.

[@defundhollywood3259]

Was he on the Daily Show at the same time as Stephen Colbert? Maybe Satan had a two for one deal the day he was there purchasing people's souls.

[@roberttreacy8271]

IMO, Ed Helms is fine in supporting roles, but he is not leading man material.

[@Joeg-yz1do]

@@roberttreacy8271exactly this. That’s why when he became the leading man in the office the show went downhill.

[@gabe_s_videos]

Rusty coming to terms with his dad's failures would have also worked because that was one of the best parts of Christmas Vacation, when Clark's father tells him that their "ideal" Christmases weren't any easier. Again, that cynical, hyper-meta detachment is such as bane on modern comedies. What's wrong with mining good intentions for comedy instead of just selfishness?

[@AlexReynard]

Writers who are shallow and mean are incapable of writing characters who are not.

[@gabe_s_videos]

@@AlexReynard Ok, let's not make this personal. It's just a movie. It's really not fair to judge the creators like that.

[@AlexReynard]

@@gabe_s_videos I'm a writer. I judge other writers because I know what I'd never let myself put into a story. I don't always think the work reflects the creator, but sometimes, with humor this ugly and mean-spirited, I feel comfortable in saying that whoever was responsible never matured past early childhood.

[@gabe_s_videos]

@@AlexReynard I'm an artist and I don't publicly badmouth other artists. Why would I do that to a peer? I wouldn't want them to do that to me. That's cruel.

[@AlexReynard]

@@gabe_s_videos When I see modern writers disrespecting beloved characters to this extent, IMO, that's far crueler than me calling it out.

[@yourbigheadcousin5434]

The guy with the rat on his shoulder was great. "Whats your pet rat's name?" -"Pet rat? Oh fuck!! I don't know him."

[@michaelpaoneproductions]

The suicidal white water rafting guy was also really funny.

[@Leon-zu1wp]

@@michaelpaoneproductions You mean legendary actor Charlie Day?

[@MASTEROFEVIL]

@@Leon-zu1wp From It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

[@MrTCHOSS]

@@michaelpaoneproductions hahaha i forgot about that

[@bijibadness]

"Can anyone relate to taking a bath in human waste with your family?" well, see, i CAN. me and the family all got front row seats on opening night to this film.

[@welcometothemetaverse2523]

👏👏👏👏

[@raghost15]

Amen to that

[@Aaliyahchannel2024]

Why'd you sit in the front fucking row? I think you can blame yourself for the shit experience. Sure the movies Terrible. But I think your bad seats added to the situation

[@scottmoore1614]

All the “Rusty” actors should have had cameos in the reboot.

[@luisrizo8813]

@Ocean Lemon Old Navy commercials from 2014

[@tomothybahamothy]

One is in jail for sexual assault of a minor and the rest are dead or addicted to drugs

[@LinktoSonic]

@@tomothybahamothy Idk about the jail or drugs, but literally every single Rusty actor is alive right now. Stop spreading misinformation

[@Yamieddie]

If we had choice between the 4 Rusty actors to reprise the role and no way included Ed Helms, the top one that list to reprise the role would've been Anthony Micheal Hall, if he wasn't available then Ethan Embrey, if he wasn't available, then Johnny Galeki. The hell were they thinking casting a new Rusty in Ed Helms. That made no sense whatsoever.

[@sdc3536]

Have to admit “when a man and a boy love each other very much” got a chuckle out of me

[@WhopperWednesday]

🤨😬 yikes

[@OrgaNik_Music]

Reminded me of "Joey, have you ever seen a grown man naked?" from Airplane!

[@andywinslow9638]

I actually like this but I agree it doesn't hold much of a candle to the first 4. I can enjoy it as maybe it's own thing rather then a new sequel. They already got different Rusty's so doing a new actor to play him and takes over Clarks role was a good idea and Edited Helms was a great choice

[@SourRobo8364]

Gross out humor was the death of comedy movies and television for me. I guess it's too much time and effort to write well written humor.

[@bakerfresh]

You can have high brow potty humor...they just go for outlandish cumamd fart jokes. Some pothead comdies like that people like....Scary Movie 2 is some people's favorite in the series...I thought there was too many fluid jokes. And I'm not a prude...I don't do it much in public, but I have a gross TMI perverted sense of humor. I just think that's what's special on timing and to what level. If everything is constantly as gross as it can be you get desensitized or even turned off. Gets boring and not original. Writing has become to suck. People are more stupid too. Idocaracy at its best, Jersey Shore covered with syringes half full on Brondo... Haha. I always mess up the name. It's got what plant want...electrolytes.

[@Chud_Bud_Supreme]

Also, shock humor full of blood and gore, like Family Guy

[@j.b.n.1492]

Absolutely. It's those Hollywood types. They'd buy water from a faucet.

[@nyahnyahson523]

@@majorfanboy2005 It's moreso the absolute saturation of it. Sure, you have a fair amount of good comedies, but you also have *so many* bad ones. A landscape of bad dirty humor, like the modern one we have, is way more grating than a landscape of bad mixed humor.

[@majorfanboy2005]

@@nyahnyahson523 Fair amount, My ass. there's an even amount of good and bad.

[@TheRealDpb100]

I feel like RV with Robin Williams was more of a Vacation movie than this dudd was

[@triggeredcat120]

And that’s a funny film.

[@BezddDakota]

I was thinking the exact same thing!!!

[@CatLives9]

Definitely

[@nslouka90]

I loved RV! TBS always aired it and I fell in love

[@CreepyUncleIdjit]

"On A Family Vacation, No One Can Hear You Scream." That tagline still gets me.

[@nslouka90]

Concerning amount of jokes about pedos in this movie, you’d think it was about something else if you hadn’t seen it.

[@carybeweary7209]

The original has a joke about the Griswolds cousin kissing her father Pretty gross and not even funny Literally just a shock humor line and it only made me hate Cousin Eddie

[@Attmay]

@@carybeweary7209 The edited for TV version that aired on CBS in 1985 replaced it with her science teacher. The pimp whom the Griswolds ask directions also gets an alternate line instead of “fuck your mama.“ instead, he says, “who do I look like, Christopher Columbo?”

[@jpoor1]

Pls explain Idk what you’re referring too

[@GuestFriendsPlay]

"Actually, I don't want to see a ball of pubic hair at all." was genuinely funnier and better delivered than nearly all of the lines of dialogue you showcased in the video

[@andrewmcmorrow1952]

"Jokes about lazy writing to cover up actual lazy writing." -Fred Savage

[@DETHMOKIL]

The vacation series is probably best known for being a family orientated comedy that also happened to have fantastic full frontal nudity.

[@KairuHakubi]

God bless the 80s. When people understood that family means kids and kids mean reproduction.

[@deabreu.tattoo]

The 80s, man. When America was still just a little unbalanced on the violence vs nudity moral panic scale

[@KairuHakubi]

@@deabreu.tattoo thank god we came to our senses and started banning anything that might upset some random person

[@joeyknight8272]

What

[@keychainere]

Back to the cubes with you.

[@TheVarietyVendor]

I feel like everytime Ed Helms is cast. They mistake him for Jason Sudeikis

[@whodatninja439]

they should play brothers

[@duncandmcgrath6290]

Woulda been the better pick

[@wvu05]

Well, they did play in _We're the Millers_ together.

[@CatLives9]

Jason Sudeikis would've been way better casting for Rusty Griswold than Ed Helms. First huge misstep for this reboot.

[@Brad772006]

Actually I thought We're the Millers was a better road trip movie than this Vacation reboot.

[@analogsignal]

Seeing as Hughes died in 2009, it’d have been a little hard for him to work on it

[@MrZer093]

This also could have been a decent meta commentary on the nature of reboots. Basically, Rusty is trying to recreate the vacation of his childhood with nothing going as planned and him thinking it’s worse than when he was a kid but then he talks to his dad and realizes that it’s different when you’re older and you just sometimes just never noticed the terrible things that went on when you were a kid. Basically, he remembers the vacation as great when Clark comes by and tells him that it really wasn’t but that it doesn’t matter in the end when you make memories to bond over.

[@eatatjoe]

That's exactly how I expected this to be, instead it's the All About Steve of movies.

[@roberttreacy8271]

That sounds a lot better.

[@rurouni82]

John Hughes was one of a kind. Nobody can come close resurrecting his projects without his assistance. All in all, his work went with him to the grave.

[@alltheinnocence]

Also, the joke about the hot chick in the car getting rammed off of the freeway by a semi was completely ripped off from Family Guy. Family Guy parodied the original with a twist, then this one just blatantly stole that joke verbatim

[@yournamehere6002]

And it's not really funny when not animated--it just looks horrific.

[@seymourbutts9085]

Family Guy doesn't mind.

[@tailsknuxfan101]

Eh, it's an obvious joke to make when trying to parody elements of the original movie. It's just as possible that it was made without having knowledge of the Family Guy joke.

[@yournamehere6002]

@Joshua Hammond It's not funny.

[@jpoor1]

I would like this comment but it’s on 69 so

[@rosebyanyname]

I feel like people enjoy Christmas Vacation the most out of all of them because it’s a lot more relatable than the others

[@DJ_Macphisto]

That, and it's just a really funny Christmas movie.

[@Grim528]

Definitely. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been given a live cat in a box, or rode a sled down a hill at light speed, leaving a trail of fire.

[@cartoonistaaronhazouri]

Yes! It was much funnier to me once I bought my first house (complete with attic door with built-in stairs) and my wife and I tried having family Christmases. Tried to cut down my own tree and everything.

[@steveb7932]

It's the least funny of the first three imo

[@christianlarson2933]

I think it's also because it's the least cynical of the three. It's the one where you really get to see how much Clark cares about his family - in the others, he's more of a jerk and a creep.

[@dylanmcartoonell1536]

Why do I get the feeling this was initially meant to be a completely unrelated movie that just used the typical modern R rated comedy checklist, then they realized nobody would ever wanna see it so they rewrote it as a Vacation reboot to get people interested?

[@AlexReynard]

Knowing that's exactly what happened with I, Robot, I hate that there's a good chance you're absolutely right.

[@hermionestranger4964]

Yeah you're right! Unfortunately there's a million "road trip comedy" scripts out there, and very few of them are good, so probably Hollywood thought "let's call this part of the Griswold saga in order to cash on nostalgia since we haev nothing else to offer." But seriously, in the screenwriting community, it seems like every second person who tries to get a foot in the industry is obsessed with writing spec scripts for The Office or road trip comedies. It's ridiculous how much of this shit clogs screenwriting message boards and I can only imagine how much worse it must be for talent agents, producers and contest judges to have to wade through it, only to be accused of nepotism when they turn it down.

[@J.S.3259]

AKA, how almost all of the DIE HARD sequels were developed

[@AlexReynard]

@@J.S.3259 o.O That... makes... sense...

[@micahcook2408]

Cause money and assets

[@user-yl4lf9mh1w]

I have to admit, me and my sister did find a sewage treatment pond when we were kids that we thought looked like a lagoon... we made a raft and were about to go riding on it before our mom stopped us. I still have the memory seared in my mind of throwing a rock into the water and watching it go through the surface without any splash. So I did relate that that scene lol.

[@jeremiahhester6408]

Oh God! XD

[@timpage9424]

They wrote 'Game Night'?!? Wow. Now I'm even more impressed that that movie turned out as good as it did.

[@dan12970]

The best(only) good thing about "Vegas Vacation" is Clark's line about how he hardly recognizes the kids any longer.

[@TRJ2241987]

I think the scene where he is plugging the holes in the dam is classic Clark Griswold

[@Leon-zu1wp]

The scene with Blackjack was good, primarily because Wallace Shawn went to high school with Chevy Chase. Also the Cheapo Casino was pretty funny.

[@KJ-tz7vc]

That and the scene where Clark sees Christie Brinkley now has a kid, revealing time has moved on. A rare bit of pathos in an otherwise mediocre movie.

[@geoffmooregm]

I actually liked Vegas Vacation. Especially when they visit Uncle Eddie out in the desert and he's frying food on the rocks.

[@johnnythewalrus]

Agree. Vegas is my favorite one

[@stephendexheimer7914]

Vegas a good sequel in my opinion. I was shocked to learn that it wasn’t even written by John Hughes, the writers of it were definitely big Vacation fans who kept it in sprit with the original 3 movies

[@WildHeart7777]

Vegas is my fav

[@3rdalbum]

Vegas is alright. It has a few great lines like "I'm your dam tour guide and you can take all the dam photos you want!"

[@kcindc5539]

“Hey, where can I get some dam bait?”

[@Clay3613]

I like Vegas Vacation, Clark finally takes initiative to keep his family together instead of bumbling into success or resorting to kidnapping.

[@dnasty312]

That's my third favorite after Christmas and the original

[@Chud_Bud_Supreme]

Yeah, but he has a gambling addiction that costs them everything until they're saved by a deus ex machina

[@ashleyleckwold5091]

So I was an extra in this movie twice over. First was a two day shoot at a rock quarry outside of Atlanta for a scene where the family ends up at a Burning Man-esque festival and the car is set ablaze by hippies. I got an awful sunburn and one of my friends awkwardly hit on one of the guys from Freaks and Geeks, but we did get to watch a timed explosion on a car. The second was the Wally World scene at the end. Nothing too exciting happened with that one, but wandering around an empty Six Flags Over Georgia where none of the rides were operating was extremely unsettling.

[@foolyunfiltered]

Ed Helms in the lead role = instant bomb All his movies are the exact same: loud obnoxious manchild surrounded by even more obnoxious people

[@tb3411]

What about Captain Underpants?

[@Barrobroadcastmaster]

@@tb3411 Captain Underpants is a Kevin Hart movie.

[@roberttreacy8271]

I agree. Ed Helms is fine in supporting roles, but he is not leading man material.

[@Nick-ty9us]

@@tb3411 yeah, he’s bearable in Captain underpants

[@wstine79]

It seems like having a Hemsworth brother in your sequel/ reboot is a bad luck charm. Not always, though.

[@JPH1138]

Star Trek 2009 would be a better counterpoint

[@MCFPapa]

Chris Hemsworth also appeared in the Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

[@JPH1138]

@@MCFPapa Oof. That film might already qualify for forgotten failures...

[@rorymorrison6014]

Independence Day 2

[@BeeHatGuy]

@@JPH1138 it's seriously the worst quality film I've ever seen, made by someone who has shown greatness (Chasing Amy). Besides that, it may even be worse than his nazi sausage movie

[@joshdoesthings6658]

If I'm going to give this movie even a modicum of credit, the joke of leaving the Griswolds the same as the previous movies as Rusty is flipping through the family photos is a significantly better meta humor joke than their forced "we're totally rebooting this movie lol" conversation with Rusty and his wife. The former is subconscious, it lets us absorb that's what this is and that the movie doesn't ignore it but isn't going to throw it in our faces. Credit where credit is due, that bit is clever. Until they ruin it of course.

[@micahcook2408]

“Show dont tell”

[@globetrekker86]

“Saying things loudly doesn’t make them funnier”. True, just as repeating an English sentence more loudly doesn’t make speakers of other languages understand the person more

[@jakeivey2011]

That's exactly why Seinfeld isn't funny

[@Attmay]

@@jakeivey2011 You misspelled *F(r)iends.*

[@microsoftsam_yt]

Someone should tell James Franco and the writers of Saturday Night Live. Good humor is subtle, not loudly cursing (Franco) or yelling while making wide-eyed silly faces (SNL).

[@thecensoredmuscle563]

That's because you can't tell if they are foreign or not at first. They just make a face or sound as if they can't hear. But then they finally talk, and you realize that they can hear just fine, they just don't speak English.

[@gabe_s_videos]

That's a really good way to put it.

[@katevgrady]

I just watched Mitchell's vs. The Machines, and even though it's not primarily a road trip movie (I'm actually not sure what it "primarily" is) I felt like the little montages of their trip were like a glimpse into a Vacation reboot we never got.

[@johnepants]

What worked about the first one and Christmas Vacation to an extent, is that they are somewhat grounded. You can imagine those versions of the Griswolds being real. The comedy comes out of natural situations and not just constant slapstick or gross out humor.

[@SuperCosmicMutantSquid]

Ya know what got me? How you were calmer at your Laurel and Hardy 'reboot' than this. This is the first video I've watched where it felt you were genuinely mad. XD

[@Helloyousilverdevil]

I don’t want to hate Ed Helms... but between his character arc in The Office, to his role in The Hangover, to this movie... I’m starting to hate just the look of his face. I wish I could just remember him as the Andy from seasons 3-6 of The Office and nothing else.

[@andrewcutler1380]

He just can't carry movies by himself. He's best as comic relief, but not the lead.

[@Scrimjer]

You mean he plays the same character in every film

[@KairuHakubi]

It's a fucking tragedy he's never played Herman Munster.

[@babybird871]

He`s grating and kind of unlikeable in the Office but I liked him in the"Hangover 1 and 2....

[@mayotango1317]

He is so funny as a crime lord in We're the Millers.

[@forfluf]

This is how you write a dip in raw sewage, based on my IRL: I once went to the St-Lawrence river to soak my feet, walk around, maybe even sit in the water not knowing there was an open sewer 15 feet up stream. It slowly escalated into my own personal horror show. First passed by was cigarette butts, no biggie... then it was unidentifiable white strips of paper... is that? Then I seen a bloody tampon float by, followed by floating turds, holy shit I got outta there so fast.

[@esperanzarobertson4823]

That's a good story and would have been funny if this was in the movie instead!

[@Leon-zu1wp]

It's ironic how you said it is a horror. Horror and comedy have much of the same reasons why they work. Just as you described things happen one at a time with a realization at the end.

[@forfluf]

@@Leon-zu1wp Sometimes, one man's suffering is another man's joy. Comedy, horror, context.

[@welcometothemetaverse2523]

Somehow, the cruel misfortunes of life managed to deliver a joke onto you better than the conscious effort of Hollywood writers.

[@mordaciousfilms]

Modern comedies: Men dumb, dirty humor, loud exclaiming, swear a lot, screaming, rape jokes. It's like we are gradually moving towards the in-universe entertainment in IDIOCRACY...

[@JeonardShadby505]

And eight years later, the directors of this movie go on to make DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES, one of the best blockbusters of the year so far, which you would never have guessed from seeing VACATION 2015. If the Russos can go from YOU ME AND DUPREE to AVENGERS ENDGAME, then I guess anything is possible.

[@BlazeHedgehog]

Everybody yelling and everything being loud nowadays makes me legit angry. I started noticing it being around my elderly mother. She's hard of hearing and has to turn the TV up pretty loud, which really accentuates just how many people on TV yell all of their dialog these days. In commercials, in shows, in everything. I hate it. Now I can't stop noticing it.

[@wayneoneill5265]

I've noticed that too. The Goldbergs is blatant for screaming dialogue. Once can be funny, but not when they do it for every line.

[@doctorfeinstone6524]

Yet in horror movies, they practically whisper it

[@lexlogic2169]

I've noticed it, too. It seems like every "funny" commercial is full of people yelling, people dancing like stupid assholes, or both.

[@Charles_Anthony]

Modern commercials... I've always hated commercials but the stuff airing nowadays makes the commercials from the 90s look oscar worthy.

[@mcjovies36]

Charlie Days scene was actually pretty funny in this movie

[@lanceturley7745]

It's the only scene in the movie that I could say was funny. And even there, I still wasn't sure if I really did think it was funny, or if I was just struggling to find something I might have enjoyed about the movie.

[@nickrustyson8124]

Granted that's mostly because it's Charlie Days, he's always funny, he's that crackhead friend we all have

[@mechajay3358]

He was the only funny part of the movie.

[@paperbagman8913]

He is always a sunny part of the films he is in

[@nms7872]

That is the only truly memorable scene from the film. It is the perfect blend of insane and ridiculous physical comedy (the stuff you'd see in a cartoon).

[@mike1975a]

"Kickstarting the film careers of both John Hughes and Harold Ramis?" Harold Ramis directed Caddyshack in 1980, co-wrote Animal House, Meatballs, and Stripes, and was an established tv and film performer, writer, director and producer before he directed the original Vacation.

[@dnasty312]

*Caddyshack* wasn't exactly a blockbuster back in 1980

[@lelopez86]

@@dnasty312 It made $60 million on a $4.8 million budget, though...

[@robbiewalker2831]

@@lelopez86 with Rodney Dangerfield and Bill Murray providing the comedy.

[@fstrgray82]

I think the point he's making is that Harold didn't really become a household name until after this came out. Seems like he was still "that guy from that movie" in 1983. Hell...I'd argue a lotta people don't even know John Hughes wrote "Vacation" b/c they only know him as the guy who did 80s teen movies.

[@J.S.3259]

@@dnasty312 CADDYSHACK was an enormous success, and was WB’s most profitable film in 1980

[@LG123ABC]

I had a great idea for another Vacation sequel. I called it "National Lampoon's Permanent Vacation". The idea was that Clark Griswald retires from his job at the food additive company, buys an RV, and goes on the road with his wife to visit their kids/grandkids -- who have moved to different parts of the country. It's probably too late now, but I think it would have made a great addition to the Vacation series of movies.

[@SuperMarioBrosIII]

@L G made me think of the movie RV with Robin Williams.

[@ericseitzler81]

Not a terrible idea

[@TheAaronmcmahon11]

I'd watch it. Sounds fun

[@brenlc1412]

That title made me think of a story where the Griswolds are on the run from the police after getting framed for a crime they didn’t commit, which still sounds better than this movie.

[@Aaliyahchannel2024]

This is why amateurs like you don't write movies. You're more of a flipping burgers cleaning toilets kinda person.

[@BDHO73]

The pissed off GPS unit in the car panting in anger is hilarious! I still laugh about it, never gets old.

[@tb3411]

It is, but that in itself feels like an issue. It feels like they wanted to just throw whatever random weird problem the car had just so one joke would manage to guarantee to get a laugh out of someone. And it worked! They did get *one*. But you shouldn't have to do that! It's a very cheap way to write humor. This is why Family Guy has so many cutaways in its show and why they feel like they were made by throwing darts at a board with randomly chosen words on it.

[@crashburn3292]

Really good critique. They missed a great opportunity to use Chase and DeAngelo here. This should have been a heart-warming comedy, where at the end Clark talks to Rusty like Clark's father spoke to him in Christmas Vacation. Clark asked him how he got through family vacations and he said, "With a lot of help from Jack Daniels." - The writers, directors and studio must know it's an bad movie before it's released, but they always release it anyway.

[@Attmay]

They don’t care as long as they get paid.

[@aranbuzzas8000]

Uh, Chase and D'Angelo are in this movie...

[@crashburn3292]

@@aranbuzzas8000- Uh, I didn't say they weren't in the movie. I said they weren't used as well as they could have been.

[@danmarshall5895]

I would have been happier if they just hired Anthony Michael Hall again to play Rusty.

[@das81]

Marketing... The dead zone was already finished.

[@danmarshall5895]

@@das81 Don't over-analyze sarcasm.

[@DJ_Macphisto]

@@das81 To be fair, that show was pretty good. Though, the movie with Christopher Walken is far better. Mainly because it was directed by David Cronenberg.

[@middleschoolgravy]

I like the gag that it’s always been different actors and there being no continuity with their looks, age, etc.

[@lukelichtenthal5407]

Yes that’s what I have always said. I also would have loved to see Dana Barron return as Audrey( and yes I know she does in Christmas vacation 2, but does anyone really care for that film?) Hell even the Goldbergs got that right.

[@ChatterboxFM]

I saw this movie on a 13 hour-flight. It somehow managed to make my flight even longer.

[@snarlyshot]

Haha me to. It's pretty much the only way I would of watched it. Truly a missed opportunity sadly.

[@JadeEyes1]

I thought you were going to say that you tried to walk out.

[@zakkfromskellten]

My family and I still love this movie genuinely, we watch this then Christmas vacation every year

[@AnthonyPompa]

Christmas Vacation is definitely the best out of the franchise. The writing was so tight.

[@therealCrazyJake]

The original Vacation movies were filled with characters that felt real and relatable, whereas this movie seemed like it only had characters that felt like everyone knows someone like that, but nobody actually identifies with them. It’s that caricature that people create in their heads of the kind of people that they can’t stand to be around without actually getting to know them as a person. That’s what this movie felt like. Also, where the original movie’s R-rating came organically, this one just felt forced, like it needed you to know that it was rated R by any means (un)necessary.

[@green49285]

They wanted it to be "hey imagine of Andy from the office was Clark's son!" Killed the whole film.

[@MoarRushPl0x]

Could have been a great movie. For it to succeed it needed to drop the overt sexual jokes, the septic area altogether, the unlikable kids, and rewrite the white water rafting scene. Probably get rid of the car too. Maybe even bring Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo along for the ride or at least meet up with them for more than one scene. EDIT: Also, I'd like to point out that I went to the theater to see this with my grandparents. What a bummer.

[@darolhitman3154]

I went with my Grandparents and this movie sucks bla bla bla Bro get a girlfriend and a life, u r the bummer😬

[@MoarRushPl0x]

@@darolhitman3154 I could say the same to you. You made a pointless comment.

[@Rehd66]

@@darolhitman3154 So.. a girlfriend is more important to you than your grandparents? Enjoy those one or two times you've been laid "Hitman"

[@MirrorPeakFM]

@@darolhitman3154 you seem like the type of person who thought this movie was hilarious.

[@MirrorPeakFM]

What? Granny didn’t like the 10 different jokes about paedephilia?! What’s wrong with her!

[@RetroPC]

I'll be honest, I actually really enjoy this movie as I think it's pretty funny on its own. The real failure here was the cameos. It was pretty rough to see Chevy Chase barely trying to be Clark.

[@ElPatron42069]

The OG national lampoon's vacation, Christmas vacation, and Vegas Vacation are all awesome as fuck!

[@secretysecret1551]

Vegas Vacation doesn't get enough respect. Its not the best movie, but I can watch it a million times over and never get tired of it

[@ShawnCaldwell11]

where can i get some dam bait?

[@MrJohnlennon007]

I love it too. Was my favourite as a kid. Where’s the damn dam tour?

[@secretysecret1551]

@@MrJohnlennon007 its funny you say that. I put this movie on as a "dad time movie" while my kid played with his toys, and it ended up being my five year old favorite movie.

[@peeman_official1596]

@@MrJohnlennon007 it was mine for a while too

[@Clay3613]

It's the third best Vacation movie after Christmas and the original!

[@BugsyFoga]

I always find humorous when comedy sequel are made decades after original while foolishly trying to capture the same magic .

[@ericrhodes5174]

Coming 2 America comes to mind

[@Jordie_42]

Ghostbusters 2016

[@hermionestranger4964]

They abysmally fail to understand that movies are products of their time; you can't just modernize it, throw in cruder jokes, and then act surprised when people don't like it. Off the top of my head, what I liked a lot about the original films were: the references to the technology back then (vintage by today's standards), and how the movie looked and felt wholesome, in contrast to the dirty and goofball jokes. That's because back then, a lot of movies that came out had that same look but without the humor. Also, the movie's humor, I felt, was more subtle, and it was obviously structured way better, because Hughes was a fantastic screenwriter and you can tell that the plot follows that of the first Don Quixote novel. For an anti-family family comedy, a heck of a lot of depth was put into it. But the reboot? It's just a typical modern-day trash comedy that's trying to piggy-back onto an old IP with the hope of racking up enough nostalgia points to recoup its budget and pay for the execs' new swimming pools.

[@TheMysteryDriver]

Rambo before the newest was actually good though. Rocky VI was good in theaters with my friends. Sometimes it works but it has to know what it's doing. Guarantee the producer and director are the biggest issues with most of these movies not being true to the original or the series and instead are being made like "this part was funny do that again"

[@gordongordon9771]

@@ericrhodes5174 I didn't see it yet but I don't listen to reviews

[@richardjared960]

I feel like every time I see Ed Helms all I see is just Andy from the office

[@smcgilli34]

Yup and that is not a good thing.

[@stevebruns1833]

The 20-teens were some of pop culture's most artistically bankrupt years. Theaters filled with remakes and reboots, and "Franken-songs" ruled the radio, made up of classic hooks stitched onto subpar sonic pablum.

[@Charles_Anthony]

The past 15 years have been an utter joke for movies and the last twenty has been even worse for mainstream music.

[@matthewbowen5841]

It seems like Hollywood is folding in on itself, simply remaking the mediocre/terrible remakes from here on out

[@Thomasmemoryscentral]

Honestly Stege, the 2010s as a decade for movies really leaned too hard into the remake territory and rarely did that end well

[@OklahomaBoomer]

I’d say the biggest thing that marked the 2010s was the fall of rock music in favor of music that had no creativity and would be forgotten in 5 years.

[@ChrisLaBenne]

Can’t forget the fact that no songs had an actual hook. There’d be an 8-bar buildup, a drop where the singer says the song title, then an instrumental chorus plays instead, is singer says the song title one more time before the hook ends

[@Nick_B_Bad]

I have no clue who thinks that a disrespectful, vulgar, bullying little child is anything but angering.

[@chuckstevens2672]

10:52 without context that’s actually pretty hilarious

[@jtmichaelson]

Excellent points. Glad someone finally said it. Cheers!

[@what3801]

Kevin Hart is the reason comedies have to have very loud talking.

[@MyOldTapes]

Will Ferrell is the reason. This goes all the way back to Elf.

[@cyruskuria5165]

@@MyOldTapes aye don't talk shit about elf

[@MyOldTapes]

@@cyruskuria5165 Yo Elf fucking sucks dude I don't care who knows it call the cops idc

[@davincent98]

Also, it's because everyone whispers in TV shows.

[@ryberg5029]

Disagree.kevin hart does his best eddie murphy most times

[@mitchellatticuswolfgang6554]

I feel like a really smart way to do this was you flip it and you have it be about grown up Audrey being dragged along on this vacation by her new husband and family because she was clearly the most traumatized one from the original vacation and she’s the grounded one.

[@whensomethingcriesagain]

I think a big thing that made the early Vacation movies work was that, in true John Hughes fashion, they weren't just wall to wall comedy, they also had genuine heart to them. There were several chances to add that aspect to this movie, especially with Chevy Chase reprising his role as Clark. He could very easily have taken on a role similar to the grandfather in Christmas Vacation, where he's there to be the reminder that things didn't go smoothly, things went wrong all the time, and what matters isn't having something go perfectly, but instead making it something personally special. You could even include that one really funny line, "I had a lot of help from Jack Daniels", and if you build it up right it can work great

[@konnii1]

I will not lie, when they finally meet the truck driver and get a ride, the youngest kid asks"are you a rapist?" Getting a nasty look from the driver as the family walks toward their new ride. The kid stands there going" guys he didn't deny the question"

[@waverazor]

I thought my phone was broken when playing this video

[@stephenharris5532]

Fair points, but the scene with all the state troopers pointing guns at each other in a standoff at the four corners tourist spot is one of the funniest scenes I've ever seen.

[@mresturk9336]

I remember seeing one of the trailers, which really made a point to highlight the "Look, they're swimming in a cess pond, lulz!" scene. I knew at that moment it was a hard pass for me.

[@jango7889]

i swear to god i can't be the only one seeing green flashes, i know i'm not going insane

[@joshhale9355]

Some actors aren’t cut out to be leads, it isn’t a bad thing, it’s just not their strength. Ed Helms is that kind of actor.

[@mitchfletcher2386]

Eh, he was better in Captain Underpants.

[@johnmaurer3097]

Helms is the same character in every movie. He’s the worst

[@Zeldachief128]

Will Ferrell is this way

[@roberttreacy8271]

@@Zeldachief128I agree. I can only take Helms and Ferrell in small doses (with the exceptions of Elf, Kicking and Screaming, Megamind, and The Lego Movies).

[@doctorrobert1339]

@@roberttreacy8271 Kicking and Screaming is the only Will Ferrell movie I've ever watched in full and remember watching it time and time again with my dad and it would kill us laughing, then again I was in my early teens the last time I watched it, so not sure how funny I'd find it today lol.

[@dpglounge4900]

I actually find Vegas vacation very underrated

[@hbjshowslopper]

The old guy at the end winning the money is the best scene

[@NissanSkyline901]

I agree. I feel like there is enough in common with the previous Vacation films in terms of humor and heart that it works well in the film series, and I find it just as enjoyable to put on as the previous films in the series. While it may not be as iconic as the original or Christmas Vacation, I don't really understand why it gets the hate it gets.

[@saiyanbrother5659]

I loved the movie

[@doctorfeinstone6524]

Vegas vacation felt too much like a Disney film. It was way too family friendly compared to the first 3 and it felt like Clark barely had any screen time

[@brianjacobson297]

I only liked Vegas Vacation at the time because I was obsessed with the subject of gambling (not the same as an addiction, mind you).

[@luckykennedy7364]

It was unwatchable when I was 16. Still is now, I’d stick with the original

[@lutherheggs451]

Its faaaar from unwatchable, except for people that have their heads up their ass and hate it just to hate it....Its not good at all, but its not unwatchable...Its clear whoever wrote it didn't get Vacation, and more stupid for the sake of being stupid unlike the originals ironically stupid making it funny.

[@Exar_Kun]

“You got “Asteroids”? “No but my dad does……. Can’t even sit on the toilet somedays.”

[@BB-ed4om]

The vacation reboot is hilarious and no one can convince me otherwise. I have about 800 movies in my library, which I consider a good start (yes I’m a huge loser) this includes all the original vacations and comedies from every decade since 1930. I’ve gone back to watching vacation several times and it’s one of my favorites in the series. If you don’t like it that’s cool but it cracks me up every time.

[@JerseyJeff84]

I may be the only one, but I have never found Ed Helms funny. There are certain celebs that I honestly can't figure out how they became famous; he's one of them.

[@jacklindsey8400]

I liked him in the Captain Underpants movie, but honestly I always just got him and Colbert mixed up when they both were on the Daily Show With John Stewart.

[@cameleyez]

I agree. He is not funny at all.

[@Coldoroki]

He’s funny, he’s just not a good fit for just any movie. I know it’s your opinion I’m just giving mine, he’s a funny guy I think with this movie he was just told to do way more than needed and had him overdoing it

[@mammothchimp1774]

Yes. He is beyond annoying. So annoying...

[@matthewbowen5841]

He was perfect as Andy in season 3 and part of 4 in The Office. His obnoxiousness was a sidenote to the ensemble. Even that got ruined when he was promoted to series regular, and he was a terrible replacement for Michael.

[@Bozek10]

Vegas Vacation is Christmas Vacation compared to this mess.

[@TheWinstonSlip]

Vegas Vacation is criminally underrated

[@collectibleasmr]

@@TheWinstonSlip Vegas Vacation is so funny. It's way better than European Vacation.

[@TheWinstonSlip]

@@collectibleasmr indeed.

[@discoron77]

I still quote Vegas Vacation probably even more than NLV or CV.

[@Certifiable]

Also, realising Johnny was Rusty in Christmas Vacation was a surprise! So he went from Vacation, to Roseanne, to Big Bang, to Roseanne continuation, to Conners! Great career if you can find it! 💵 💰 💵 💰

[@carybeweary7209]

He's in a great movie called Suicide Kings too I recommend it if you like mob movies Although it's a very different kind of mob movie

[@Begnsteal]

In a different review the guy was like “yes there is poop jokes… but there GOOD poop jokes” and like Ew no.

[@Ckom-Tunes]

In reading Hughes’ original story I laughed so hard the neighbors actually called the cops! They thought someone was getting murdered!

[@firstclassedits1704]

They filmed this movie right next door and since my dog was loud next door they made my mom take her to the pound

[@deathdefying1472]

I like to think that this film never existed The original is a billion times better

[@TRJ2241987]

The original (not edited for TV version) is the greatest film of all time in my opinion

[@lineartips1260]

The most underrated channel on KZbin strikes again. Love the original vacation movies so this will be a treat. Thanks for being great man

[@timewarpproductions4844]

I know I'm probably not the first person to ask this, but what's with the green flashes?

[@erikpinedo7757]

I'm sorry but the gps gasping for air after screaming at them in Japanese is pure comedy 🤣

[@Pacer1010]

One of the best jokes in the movie no doubt😂

[@SamBrickell]

That was the only thing I liked (from what was shown about the movie). Just the idea of an unaware entity acting so human.

[@comixproviderftw_02]

There's a tv show on TBS called The Detour. That show did the family vacation idea better than this movie.

[@christianlarson2933]

The Detour is absolutely brilliant.

[@mightyfilm]

Also, episodic TV show vs movie. You get to do far more in mutli-episode arcs than you can in a 90 minute contained story.

[@TRJ2241987]

I will also add that I found 'The Detour' to be fantastic

[@KJ-tz7vc]

Sounds like I need to check this out.

[@comixproviderftw_02]

@@KJ-tz7vc Its on Hulu

[@TheMetalMask36]

It’s fine that you don’t hate Ed Helms, I hate him enough for the both of us

[@dnasty312]

Smidge ½?

[@MillennialBro]

Amen

[@J.S.3259]

He wasn’t the worst part of The Office (that was Rainn Wilson), but he’s hard to tolerate, particularly in a starring vehicle

[@brutallyhonest123]

@@J.S.3259 the worst part of the office was the American reboot.

[@ricks.1779]

Yeah, I can't stand him either.

[@alexdaubenspeck4339]

7:35 " #2 characters screaming or talking loudly is funny " I feel like I know where you stand on will Farrell movies

[@thejellyranger7679]

“Sorry folks, franchise is dead. The teaser poster out front shoulda told ya.”

[@tomwalsh63]

7:45 its because Will Farrells schtick was yelling loudly so other comedies picked that up as a go to substitute for actual jokes