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Initial Thought: I have actually never seen the first Vacation. The only one I have seen was Christmas Vacation. I did really enjoy that one. So I was intrigued about this one as well. I decided since my job opened it early I checked it out after a successful final interview for another job.
Characters/Acting: Ah the good old tradition of never having the same Rusty Griswold continues once again. Ed Helms is always pretty funny even if I sometimes confuse him with Jason Sudeikis. I mean they even came around the same time. As well as close to the same age. Anyways moving on. Christina Applegate is still a hottie in my opinion. She also still has some pretty good comedic timing. The two kids played respectively by Skyler Gisondo and Steele Stebbins were good for their roles. Although I really didn't care for the younger brother as a character. He was just a bit too evil and antagonistic. I always love seeing Leslie Mann as I have such a huge crush on her haha. I'm never disappointed with her. Chris Hemsworth was actually quite hysterical here and plays the uncle everyone thinks is awesome. His character is so over the top with awesomeness that you can't help but be somewhat amused. I enjoyed seeing Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo reprising their iconic roles. Even the supporting characters who only showed up once or twice were quite hilarious and unexpected.
Story: 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. The credits were kind of amusing. I think the humor here is a lot more gross out and more grown up at least from Christmas Vacation. I mean it is an R rated film. Just because a comedy film has a family in it doesn't always mean take your kids. I mean there are so many blatantly obvious adult jokes here that it would be really awkward having to sit through them with your kids or even explaining a few of them. There are even a few bits of dark humor thrown in for good measure. Some stuff is a bit ridiculous though and not particularly in a fun way. I'm not going to lie though I laughed several times here. It's also a bit self-aware near the beginning. This was much more entertaining than I was anticipating.
Directing/Writing: John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein are mostly known for writing and before this have directed nothing. Daley also acts quite a bit unlike his buddy. I have enjoyed everything I have seen of theirs with Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 being my favorite by far. I thought they kept up their skills quite well. I wasn't at all disappointed.
Final Thought: This was a good escape from the real world. There are some pretty laugh worthy moments from beginning to end. I mean it did have it's groan worthy stuff too. Would I recommend it to the original fans? Probably not. For people unfamiliar with the series and familiar with today's kind of comedy I would.
