What if there was a solid sequel to one of the most beloved ‘80s franchises and you didn’t even know it? Decades ago, Chevy Chase headlined National Lampoon’s Vacation and its sequels, including my personal favorite, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. If you’d like to see the latest entry in this killer comedy franchise, you’re in luck: the raunchy, underrated Vacation (2015) is now streaming on Netflix.
The premise of Vacation is that Rusty Griswold is all grown up with a family of his own, and he decides to engage in a family tradition by taking all of them to Wally World like his dad once took him. Unfortunately, like his father before him, Rusty keeps getting his family into trouble as he takes one demented detour, all in the name of having a fun road trip. The trials and tribulations of this trip might just bring the family closer together…assuming, of course, it doesn’t completely drive them apart!
Meet the Griswolds, Again
The cast of Vacation includes some big names for the Griswold family: Ed Helms (best known for The Hangover) plays Rusty Griswold, the patriarch who wants to take his family on the trip of a lifetime. Christina Applegate (best known for Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead and Married… With Children) plays his wife, a bored mom who secretly has a hard-partying past. Their oldest son is played by Skyler Gisondo, whose career recently went up, up, and away when he starred as Jimmy Olsen in Superman (2025).
Vacation’s supporting cast includes It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia alumni Charlie Day (as a river rafting guide who doesn’t care if he lives or dies) and Kaitlin Olsen (who plays a twitchy cop). Norman Reedus, best known for The Walking Dead, memorably plays a creepy truck driver who may be either the Griswolds’ best friend or their worst nightmare, and Chris Hemsworth (best known for playing Thor in the MCU) plays Rusty’s brother-in-law who can’t stop showing off his body. Rounding out the movie are original National Lampoon stars Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo, both of whom make the absolute most out of their limited screen time.
Vacation, All Audiences Ever Wanted?
At the box office, Vacation was a modest hit, earning $107.2 million against a budget of only $31 million. While that was nowhere near as profitable as other Ed Helms features, such as The Hangover, Vacation’s box office was proof that there is still a market for the kind of off-kilter comedy that made Chevy Chase’s original Vacation movies so memorable. Unfortunately, while general moviegoers enjoyed this film, critics hated seeing Vacation about as much as Clark Griswold enjoyed seeing Cousin Eddie in his front yard.
To call Vacation underrated is an understatement: on Rotten Tomatoes, the movie has a rather dismal 27 percent. Critics mostly complained that this movie borrowed the road trip structure of the earlier National Lampoon’s Vacation films without being as charming or as funny. Generally speaking, they complained that the movie was a nostalgia grab that did nothing to really improve on the films that came before.
Don’t Call It a Comeback
Nonetheless, the movie is experiencing something of a cult renaissance over a decade since its theatrical release. It’s been in Netflix’s Top 10 since it was recently added, knocking more popular comedies like Despicable Me 3 and The Secret Life of Pets down in the rankings. Furthermore, you can’t throw a rock online without hitting a social media post from an enthusiastic new fan talking about how Vacation is criminally underrated.
Aside from the movie now making waves on Netflix, why am I recommending that you watch Vacation, a film with such an abysmal critical reception? Basically, if you can throw out your expectations of this movie being like a carbon copy of the ‘80s National Lampoon films, then you’ll likely have a good time. That’s because this newer movie is almost nothing like Chevy Chase’s films: it’s raunchy instead of suggestive, vulgar instead of witty, and over-the-top rather than subtle.
A Surprisingly Funny Sequel
It may sound like I’m damning the film with faint praise, but these qualities make Vacation surprisingly fun and funny: the movie constantly subverted my expectations in ways that made me laugh out loud. While the supporting cast occasionally disappoints (I was particularly bored by Charlie Day and Kaitlin Olsen, both of whom are far better on It’s Always Sunny), the core cast has so much chemistry that they really do feel like a bizarre-but-loving family. By the time the credits roll, you’re likely to find yourself singing “Kiss From a Rose” right along with them (it’s, uh, a long story).
Will you agree that Vacation is both hilarious and underrated, or is this one road trip you’d like to see destroyed in a horrific Wally World rollercoaster accident? You won’t know until your fingers make a road trip to the nearest remote and you stream this quirky classic on Netflix. It’s not exactly fun for the whole family, but if you’re looking for a raunchy and riotous escape from your family, you can’t go wrong with this vulgar comedy.
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