Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley direct Ed Helms, Christina Applegate and Skyler Gisondo in this reboot / soft sequel to the 1980s Chevy Chase series. 

I have a soft spot for the original three Vacation films… they were family favourites in our house as kids. They’ve aged terribly but no amount of rust and depreciation will diminish Beverly D’Angelo’s innate put-upon hotness or Chevy Chase’s gormless suave pratfalls. This colourful rehash gets everything right and wrong about the originals on target… the oblivious schmuckery of the Griswolds 2.0, the spirited enthusiasm of the cast (with Santa Clarita Diet’s Gisondo absolutely killing as the sensitive elder sibling), the uneven bittiness of the set pieces, the unnecessary gross-out moments and a decent cameo from Chase himself showing he still has that old Clark Griswold magic. There’s not enough here to make it worth a repeat viewing but as disposable comedies go this has about as many laughs as any of those rose-tinted originals. And they use the Holiday Road theme music. Well done them for that.

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