Vacation

It's been 32 years since the world was introduced to the Griswold family and their disaster-filled vacations. After five trips, three excellent (less said about Vegas and Cousin Eddie's Island Adventure the better), the Griswolds are back.

Vacation follows Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms), son of Clark (Chevy Chase) from the originals, and his family. Feeling his family is in a rut, Rusty organises a family trip back to Wally World. Like father, like son, it's full of disaster.

This reboot/sequel/remake is another nostalgia trip that doesn't work. While the original Vacation had an abundance of fun, laughs and heart, this Vacation is barely funny, crass, bland and mean-spirited, with an over-abundance of poo/genital jokes. There are good cameos and bad ones (don't expect Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo to appear long, or do anything) and the overall drive is aimless, feeling more interested in jumping between one outrageous set-up and the next.

The family is far from endearing. The children are purveyors of unlikable nastiness and whininess. Christina Applegate proves abrasive and horny. Then there's Helms' Rusty, the surrogate Clark Griswold. Where Chevy Chase made Clark a charismatic dummy, Helms makes Rusty an idiot. Overall, it's hard to care for this Griswold family.

In the end, another reboot misfire that reminds you to watch the originals.