National Lampoon's European Vacation


Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo, Dana Hill, Jason Lively, John Astin
Directed by: Amy Heckerling
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Adventure
1985

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: The Griswolds: Clark (Chevy Chase), Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo), Rusty (Jason Lively), and Audrey (Dana Hill) win a free European vacation thanks to a game show trivia contest. They set out for the old world, but craziness and problems once again threaten their trip.

Review:

Tim: I really enjoyed the original Vacation movie, so I was very excited to see this sequel. I figured, hey, if it worked in America, why wouldn't it work in Europe? This is such a simple concept, that it should have been easily replicated anywhere. Sadly, this is not true. This movie suffers from so many typical sequel flaws. It isn't particularly funny, which is very sad. In the end, I'd still watch any Griswold adventure, but this one greatly lowered my expectations.

Chevy Chase is once again good as Clark Griswold. He doesn't have any hilarious moments here, but he is a fun actor to watch. I liked him in this movie. Beverly D'Angelo is likewise good as Ellen. She has a few strong moments where she showcases some of her skill. I always enjoy watching D'Angelo in these movies.

I was surprised and sad to see Rusty and Audrey were recast. Anthony Michael Hall was one of my favorite parts of the original, specifically his interaction with Chase. Jason Lively (whoever that is) is a far cry from Hall. Lively isn't particularly good, and this hurts the movie greatly. Even worse, Dana Hill is just not good as Audrey. I wasn't a big fan of the previous Audrey, but she was certainly better than Hill. Hill was downright annoying nearly every second of screen time. This is one of the film's big flaws. Lively and Hill cause all their scenes to be less effective than they neeeded to be. This was a huge mistake.

This movie also suffers from a lack of humorous situations. There are so many gags that just fall flat. The film tries to use stereotypes of all the various European countries as jokes, but none of these are particularly funny. I shook my head sideways far more than I laughed. Sadly, this movie is just not very funny. The film also has some incredibly lame kidnapping subplot, which was simply awful. This greatly detracted from the movie.

National Lampoon's European Vacation is a major step backwards from the very strong original. I was hugely excited to see the terrific song "Holiday Road" make an appearance here, but this is of small consolation. This film is just not very good at all. I was very disappointed.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
National Lampoon's Vacation, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation