Rusty Griswold is now working as a pilot for the low budget regional airline Econo-Air, living in suburban Chicago and in a stale relationship with his wife Debbie and their two sons, shy and awkward 14-year-old James, and sadistic 12-year-old Kevin, who constantly bullies and torments his older brother. The gloating from his friends Jack and Nancy Peterson about a family trip they had in Paris does not help matters.
Desiring to relive his childhood family vacations and holiday gatherings, Rusty surprises his family with an alternative summer vacation. Rather than their annual trip to a cabin in Cheboygan, Michigan (which everyone else secretly hated), he plans a road trip from Chicago to Walley World, just like he did with his parents and sister. For the trip, Rusty rents a Tartan Prancer, an ugly, over-complicated AlbanianSUV.
Along the way, the Griswolds take many detours. The first stop is in Memphis, where it is revealed that the otherwise mild-mannered Debbie was an extremely promiscuous Tri Pi sorority sister nicknamed 'Debbie Do Anything'. To prove that she was the rebellious student, Debbie attempts to run an obstacle course while drunk, but fails miserably. While staying at a motel, James meets Adena, a girl his age that he saw while driving on the highway, but she is scared off by Rusty's failed attempts to be a "wingman".
In Arkansas, they are led to a supposedly hidden hot spring by a "helpful" local, eventually realizing that it is actually a raw sewage dump. They return to their SUV, only to see that it has been broken into, sprayed with graffiti, and emptied of their luggage and cash.
Stopping in Plano, Texas, they get help from Rusty's sister Audrey and her attractive husband Stone Crandall. Rusty begins to fear problems in his relationship with Debbie due to her seeming acceptance of Stone's obvious sexual advances, but she rebuffs his suspicions; Stone then walks in on them and shows off his muscular body and oversized genitalia.
Spending the following night at a Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, Arizona, Rusty and Debbie sneak away and attempt to have sex at the Four Corners Monument, where officers from all four states of Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico confront them. When the officers start arguing about who gets to make the arrest, Rusty and Debbie sneak away. James encounters Adena again, and finally asserts himself against Kevin thanks to her encouragement.
The next morning, they nearly get killed by Chad, a Grand Canyon rafting guide, who had just been dumped by his fiancée. Later, their SUV runs out of gas in the middle of the desert, and Rusty's unfamiliarity with the key fob causes the vehicle to explode, leading him to walk off dispirited and alone, thinking about the disastrous trip. Unfortunately, they have been tracked down by a seemingly unstable truck driver, who they think has been stalking them throughout the trip. In actuality, he has been actually trying to return Debbie's missing wedding ring. He ends up giving them a lift to San Francisco.
There, they spend the night at a bed and breakfast run by Rusty's parents, Clark and Ellen. They intend to fly home the next day, but Rusty and Debbie face each other about their stale marriage and decide to start over again. With some encouragement from Clark the next morning, Rusty borrows his father's Wagon Queen Family Truckster and drives Debbie and the boys to Walley World to ride their newest roller coaster, the Velociraptor.
After spending the entire day waiting in line, they are cut off by Ethan, a rival pilot who Rusty knows from Chicago, and his family before the announcement of the park's closing. A fight breaks out, which the Griswolds win, forcing the other family to flee. The Griswolds finally board the ride, but it stalls halfway up the butterfly inversion, and they are rescued several hours later.
Rusty uses his airline connections to book a vacation in Paris for just Debbie and himself after sending the boys home where their neighbors will look after them. On the plane to Paris, they are seated in jump seats next to a lavatory. Exasperated, Debbie learns that it will be a 12-hour flight.
Cast
Ed Helms as Russell "Rusty" Griswold, a pilot for Econo-Air living in Suburban Chicago
Hannah Davis Jeter as The Girl in the Red Ferrari, a different girl driving a Red Ferrari who tries to flirt with Rusty only to get struck by a semi-trailer truck.
In July 2012, it was announced that Ed Helms would star in the sequel as Rusty Griswold, who now has his own family misadventures on the road.[9] On March 28, 2013, Variety announced that original series stars Beverly D'Angelo and Chevy Chase were in talks to reprise their roles, most likely in the form of a torch-passing cameo role.[10] No mention was made of other series regulars, such as Randy Quaid's Cousin Eddie.[8]
On September 30 and October 1, 2014, scenes were filmed on location at The Twelve Oaks Bed and Breakfast in historic Covington, Georgia.[21] The Twelve Oaks was staged as Christina Applegate's character's sorority house, Triple Pi, and the location of her attempt to run the obstacle course once more to prove that she is the Chug Run champion.
In a similar vein to the original film's "Wagon Queen Family Truckster", the film features a custom-designed minivan named the "Tartan Prancer". Dubbed the "Honda of Albania", it is a heavily modified Toyota Previa[25] and features unconventional styling elements such as a mirror-image front and rear clip, complete with two sets of headlights (pulled from the Land Rover LR3/Discovery) and rearview mirrors, as well as dashboard buttons marked by nonsensical symbols. As part of a promotional tie-in with the film, Edmunds.com released a tongue-in-cheek review comparing the Tartan Prancer against the 2015 Honda Odyssey.[26]
Music
The musical score for the film was composed by Mark Mothersbaugh.[27] A soundtrack album was released by WaterTower Music on July 24, 2015.[28] In addition to Mothersbaugh's score, it features many contemporary songs, along with several renditions of Lindsey Buckingham's "Holiday Road" (including a remixed and remastered version of the original that plays at the start of the film, and again near the end).[29]
Release
The film was originally set to be released on October 9, 2015, but it was moved to July 31, 2015,[30] before finally being pushed up to July 29, 2015, the 32nd anniversary of the release of the first Vacation film.[31] Warner Bros. spent a total of $35.2 million on advertisement for the film.[32]
Vacation grossed $58.9 million in North America and $45.8 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $104.7 million, against a budget of $31 million.[6]
The film grossed $1.2 million from its early Tuesday preview showings, and a combined $6.3 million on Wednesday and Thursday. In its opening weekend, it grossed $14.7 million, finishing second at the box office behind Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation ($55.5 million).[35]
Critical response
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 27% based on 177 reviews and an average rating of 4.30/10. The site's consensus reads, "Borrowing a basic storyline from the film that inspired it but forgetting the charm, wit, and heart, Vacation is yet another nostalgia-driven retread that misses the mark."[36] On Metacritic, it has a score of 34 out of 100 based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[37] On CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[38]
Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times gave the film a positive review and praised the Kevin Griswold character, saying, "The kid with the potty mouth may cost Warner Bros. some business at the box office, but in a strange way he elevates Vacation, a very funny R-rated movie with a PG-13 heart."[39] Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave it a "B−" rating and wrote, "The new Vacation is both better than I'd feared and not as hilarious as I'd hoped. It's intermittently funny and instantly forgettable."[40]Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote, "It's a vile, odious disaster populated with unlikable, dopey characters bumbling through mean-spirited set pieces that rely heavily on slapstick fight scenes, scatological sight gags and serial vomiting."[41]Rolling Stone reviewer Peter Travers gave it 1.5 out of 4 stars, saying: "Leslie Mann and wild-card Chris Hemsworth, as her cock-flashing hubby, get the heartiest hoots. The rest is comic history warmed over."[42]
