I hate reboots. Almost as much as I hate remakes. And spoof movies (unless they have Mel Brooks or Leslie Nielsen involved) are generally the worst of all. So Vacation looked at first sight to be a shocker that I really shouldn't bother with. The trailers looked quite funny though, and there was a clear self-reference to the originals that made me somewhat hopeful that it might be a half decent successor to the Chevy Chase originals.
In the end the worst thing about it was probably the forced appearance of Chase himself at the end of the movie. Almost, but not quite, rescued by the appearance of the original car.
Some of the jokes along the way were a bit puerile, some were just stupid, others were referential to the original. But most of them got laughs. The opening credits were funny and got the whole audience giggling away so when some of the weaker jokes came later the momentum continued through them and on to some of the better laughs.
Even the lowest and cheapest gags were at least throwbacks to the originals so when they didn't warrant laughs themselves they did get a smirk of nostalgia. There are even some really sneaky Easter Eggs for fans of the original.
Watching the original would probably be beneficial if you want to get the most out of the nostalgia value but it isn't really necessary.
And, I still want to know what the swastika button does.
No comments:
Post a Comment