So here it is the last review beginning with the number ‘2’ all hail the final half of this list and its here at the middle point and I realise I still have the same amount of reviews (nearly) still to go and I think I’ve bitten off more than I should of here. Maybe I should of started much lower down like at number 2 itself! Well we are here now so I might as well plough on.
This is the second in the ‘Vacation’ movies and released in 1985. It was produced on a budget of $17m and went on to take $49.3m at the box office which has to be seen as a success. It starred the returning husband and wife duo of Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo. It also starred Dana Hill, Jason Lively, Victor Lanoux & Eric Idle and for the Brits reading this it also had Peter Hugo, Mel Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Maureen Lipman, Paul McDowell and Ballard Berkeley. This is the only National Lampoons Vacation movie where the Griswold name is spelt with an ‘a’ (Griswald) rather than the usual ‘o’. Critics wise is has waned in popularity over the years and there is no risk of the Tri-critic scoring lining up here as I seem to of liked this movie much more than anyone else apparently. As IMDb gave it a 6.2/10 and Rotten Tomatoes gave it a rotten 36% so they really didn’t like it. I will try and explore why a bit later.
The plot that you probably do not really need to know for this movie is a simple one there is the Griswold family consisting of mum, dad, son & daughter (don’t ask which one is older as this may change depending on the movie – in this one the Son Rusty is older) and they bring disaster wherever they go. Through bungling to stupidity they will bring errors, smashes, crashes and bashes wherever they go. Well they have just won a European Vacation and land in London England bringing havoc to the UK. They then move across Europe visiting France, Italy and Germany where they catch up with some of their relatives there. The format is the same the name of the holiday is different. This follows in same style as the first movie and set up another three movies after this one with the peak coming with the third movie.
Sorry I rolled over into my spiel there didn’t I? This is a stupid movie there is little plot to follow and the brainless family destroy Europe as they go. They do really some up American tourist on occasions in this movie and they also poke fun at the countries they are visiting too. If you watch this looking for cultural aspects of mid-eighties Europe you are going to be very disappointed. If you wish to switch your brain off and have a laugh then you may just that with this movie. It is silly and slapstick in places and sometimes you sit there laughing alone as you are the only one to spot something. It also means other laugh when you don’t but as I said before check your brain at the door as you check in and you might just enjoy it more than 36% worth. I know I did.
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