Vacation - Movie needs some roadside assistance

Starting off: I've had a couple friends tell me "well, compared to the original..." or "in the first one they...". I am a fan of the movie "National Lampoon's: Vacation", but I don't think it is fair to compare this new movie to the other.

This movie is set for a new generation, with different writing, directing, and humor elements, and I will not be comparing it to the original.

That being said: I've been waiting all summer for this movie, and seeing this movie opening night, I was pretty disappointed. 

• Green Lantern - Basically Convoluted and Derivative
• The Darkest Hour

Vacation

The cast is pretty well put together. Ed Helms plays the roll of Rusty very well, bringing out his inner dad and husband, trying to spend bonding time with his children and spice things up with his wife. Christina Applegate does a good job as Debbie, and Chevy Chase brings a familiar face to the movie that people will enjoy.

Character development wise, you grow to root for the family as they try to make their way to Walley World. However, there are some scenarios and side stories that you wish the writers would have summed up at the end of the film.

The problem is with the humor of the movie. Very provocative, and adult rated. There's nothing wrong with that type of humor, but there needs to be some balance. Just dishing out F-bombs when a random encounter happens is not humorous.

Also, there's hardly any build up with the humor. While watching, I felt like the joke had no journey to the punch line, and then once the first punch line was out, it was a constant bombardment of more punchlines that just dragged the joke out and killed it. All of the humorous scenes can be viewed in the multitude of trailers. 

The premise is good, especially since it's a relatable story (everyone's had a crazy vacation). And fans of the original are probably extremely excited to take their (older) children to see what they enjoyed years ago.

The half morbid and offset, vulgar jokes, however, leave a bad aftertaste in your mouth, wishing the writers would have taken just a little more time with the film.