Tuesday 22 September 2015

Vacation


Summary

Ross Griswold decides to take his family cross country to 'Walley World' in order to reconnect with his family, but things don't go quite to plan.


2nd Best Co Pilot


Ross Griswold just finished his flight and lands back down in his home airport, waiting for the shuttle bus to pick him up, but when he's waiting, he sees another Pilot walking with two beautiful women and they stands next to him as they wait for the shuttle bus. The pilot flirts with the two women and laugh along with him as they get on the bus as soon as it arrives, with Ross unable to get on as the bus as it is now full.

So we see some funny moments in this scene when Ross sees the other pilot come through the air port doors with the two beautiful women and you know that Ross thought he was cool as hell! It was funny seeing Ross laugh along with the other pilot and women as he tried to get in on the joke he told to them, but the pilot just looks at him as if to say "Who the hell are you? & why are you laughing with us?" At that point you knew that the other pilot was a bit of a A-Hole and proved to us he was one, as he wouldn't let Ross on the shuttle bus when it arrived.  


The scene also shows us that Ross is a push over and plays the nice guy, making him regret some of the discussions he makes throughout the duration of the movie. 



Meet The Family


When Ross gets home, he is greeted by his wife Debbie Griswold and oldest son, James Griswold. The two of them are talking about the issue with their youngest son Kevin Griswold, who just wrote "I have a Vagina" On James's guitar and Ross fixes the issues by crossing out "Vagina" and writes on the guitar "Penis," So it says "I have a penis."


So this was a funny way to introduce his family to the movie, especially knowing that the older son James is the one who gets bullied by the youngest Kevin. I thought it was a good twist on the movie as we would normally see the oldest be the bully or the tough guy who looks out after his young brother, but not in this case. 

I thought that the funniest part about this scene was when Ross tries to sort the situation out between his two sons, but backfires as he begins to talk to James as if he doesn't have a penis, making things worse for him and giving Kevin more reasons to bully him.

A Miserable Wife

Ross and Debbie are sitting in bed after a very awkward dinner they had earlier, with both of them using their laptop and iPad before going to sleep. Ross looks through their old family photos while they were on vacation and notices Debbie's face becomes more miserable through out the years and this sparks a bright idea for Ross.

Here we have the main reason and motivation of the story, "A Miserable Wife." After finding out that the same old vacation they have each year isn't enough to keep his wife Debbie happy, he now knows that he must do something new for his family and that's when he comes across a website called 'Walley World,' which Ross had been to with his parents when he was a young child once. 

Plus Debbie wants to go to Paris so badly and to tell her that they're going to Walley World, well...That must be a kick in the stomach for her. Personally i would love it!! 

A Trip To Walley World!

The next morning, Ross is very excited to tell his family about his bright idea about driving cross country to 'Walley 'World.' His family already hate the idea, but that doesn't stop Ross showing off the new transportation he has installed for the Griswold family. The whole family go outside to gather around the Albanian family carrier that they will be travelling in for the next few days, showing off all the unusual Albanian technology the car comes with. 

This car is a death trap and that's the best part, because we know that it will give the family some trouble along the to Walley World. Who wouldn't want a car with 6 ash trays and two gas tanks right? I may even want this car for myself! 

Ross insists Debbie to slam the door on his arm because the car won't let you slam it due to sensors, but hold on a second...The door slams right on his arm, hurting him very badly. This was by far the funniest part of the scene and he insists her to do it again because Ross thinks he didn't activate the car...I think you all know what happens again.

Speaking Trucker Lingo

As the Griswold family are finally on their journey to Walley World, Ross shows off one of the cars features, a communications radio. Ross wants to speak to the trucker who is driving behind them and so he does with some fancy trucker lingo.

If i seen anyone of my family try and speak the "Trucker Lingo," i don't know if i would laugh my ass off or just be plain embarrassed, especially if one of them asks the trucker if they were a "Rapist." Also having a CB radio in the car to speak to truckers would be pretty cool if i have to be honest with you and i think i would actually use it all the time if i ever had the chance to, but it does kind of remind me of this one horror movie i once saw, when a truck driver follows a couple and tries to murder them off the road.


Hot girl In Car


The Griswold family are a couple of hours into their journey and James can see an attractive girl in one of the cars going passed, making eye contact with her. The two of them also smile and wave at each other, but Kevin interrupts them both as he throws a plastic bag over James's head to suffocate him.

OK, i think i wet my pants a little bit at this part of the scene, because it was all going well for James as he starts to wave and smile to the girl, with romantic music playing in the background and out from no where comes a plastic bag to suffocate James. How unexpected was that? I thought something was going to happen, but a plastic bag to suffocate him? Too funny!! 

Also try imagine yourself being the girl in the other car for a moment and try and imagine what it would be like to see someone else in the other car get suffocated by a plastic bag, what would you do? I don't know if i would freak out or just laugh.

Debbie Do-Anything

All four of them are now at Debbie's old college she went to when she was younger and takes them to her old sorority house, where they see a huge party going on in the middle of the day, seeing people do a Tri-Pi Chug Run as Debbie explains it an old tradition they used to do. As she explains, one of the sorority sisters can see Debbie and notice her for being "Debbie Do-Anything" and telling everyone she was the one who invented the Chug Run. The sorority sisters are also disappointed in who they have just met and think Debbie is out of date and old, thinking she is unable to do the Chug run anymore, but Debbie wants to prove them wrong.

What could possibly go wrong here? So Debbie challenges the sorority sisters to do her own invention because they think she can't do it due to her old age and if that was me, i would probably try and do it as well. 

So Debbie steps up to the big inflatable obstacle course and chugs down a large pitch of beer and she does, but as soon as the blower goes to signal her to start the obstacle course, she spews up all of the beer while everyone watches her. Hilarious! 

Fair play to Debbie though, she did try and finish the course, but it all went down hill as soon as she stepped on, throwing her off the entire thing onto the sold ground. OUCH! 

Hot Spring Water Sewage

The next morning The Griswold's get directions of a hillbilly to a private hot spring because there is a long queue to the main hot spring they originally planned for and they don't want to waste anymore time. When they get there, they find the hot spring in the middle of no where and they all get in the warm water, rubbing the natural mud on there faces, but is it mud?

I thought this scene was a little bit to obvious on what was to come, i mean it was in the middle of no where behind some bushes. Would you get in the water in the middle on no where? That's like eating a box of pizza you found at someone else's door step...I think! Anyway, they soon find out that the hot spring they found is a sewage system and the mud...Well, i think you know what the mud is. 

Can you imagine finding out what you're bathing in and rubbing on your face? I would want to die there and then if was ever in that situation. Maybe not die, but i would certainly hope to be somewhere else and not be rubbing someone else's Sh*t on my face! 

The worst thing about this part is they also get robbed after they get out of the water and find their car empty and damaged. That shows them for trusting a hillbilly for next time! 

Running Into A Bull

Covered in feces, they go to visit Ross's sister Audrey, who is now married to Stone Crandell who is a very successful man. Ross can see how the kids and Debbie look up to Stone, but Debbie more so as he's a very handsome person. This makes Ross angry and tries to prove to his family that he can do what ever Stone Crandell can do, which is herding a group of large bulls on a quad-bike the next morning.

Once i seen Ross get on the quad-bike, i knew that there was going to be a disaster of some kind, but a disaster that ends up riding into a large bull and killing it was the most unexpected of them all. We actually didn't see the bull get hurt in the scene, but of the aftermath of Ross covered in guts and blood with Stone washing him down with a hose pipe. 


Surely Ross would of been the one who would be injured the most? Maybe i'm looking into it to much as it is a comedy movie after-all . 

White Water Rafting

Now it's time for some fun as the Griswold's decide to go white water rafting and it's not what they was expecting as the instructor is trying to be funny at all times, making them feel uncomfortable. The instructor gets a phone call off his girlfriend telling him that things are over between the two of them, making him go into a bad mood while he takes the Griswold family out on the dangerous river and putting their lives at risk. 

Iv'e always wanted to do white water rafting and after seeing this, i'm having second thoughts! If i just witnessed out white water rafting instructor break up with his girlfriend, i would definitely be thinking about what is going on his head in that moment in time. The dude could be thinking suicidal thoughts or could just be a reckless instructor after receiving bad news.

The funniest part about the scene was when he was getting dumped on the phone in-front of the Griswold's and the instructor is all mad, chucking his phone in the river, to suddenly being normal within a second of getting off the phone. This tells us that the guy has some serious issues and the family are in serious trouble!


Killer Trucker Is Back


Barely escaping their lives the last time they came across the trucker they tried escaping from, they soon come across the same murderous driver, but this time without the Albanian car to make a swift get away, making Ross run for his life as he tries to outrun the large truck and he comes to a stop as soon as the driver catches him, but the whole family is shocked in what is installed for them next. 

In this scene Ross has a falling out with his family because everything has gone wrong so far and the car has now just been destroyed, resulting him being on foot while he thinks the truck driver is set out to kill him, but the scene shocks us all. The driver was furiously driving after them because Debbie had left her wedding ring at one of the Diners and he had been trying to give it her back ever since. How stupid would you feel if you was them? Especially after their son called him a rapist!

The driver offers them a lift to the Ross's parents house and drops them off, but Debbie has a final question for the driver about the teddy bear he has strapped on the front of his truck, asking why he has it, with a reply off him saying "It makes the kids feel comfortable," while letting them know he doesn't have any kids...

Walley World

Finally they have made their destination and arrived at the Walley World Theme Park happy as ever and all that happiness ends as soon as they realise how long the queues are. They wait in line for hours and hours till they get to the front, but Ross and his family come across the Co-Pilot he knows from the airport he works at and cuts in-front of them, taking the last seats of the day. Ross and his family are furious on what just happened and confront him there and then. 


Woo they finally made it and what a journey it has been! I felt like i was on the journey with them and what a fun and disastrous one it has been as well, but it's no over yet as they have just been mugged off by the jerk Co-Pilot who has just cut in-front of them because he has a VIP ticket to cut queues. If it was me i would punch the guy right in the nostrils and in this case, they all end up brawling on the floor to fight for the last remaining seats on the roller coaster. I loved this part because even though it is a violent scene, they managed to make it hilariously funny by putting it in slow motion and involving the kids into the fight also.

They had to get a win sooner or later and what a better time to get it? Right at the end of the movie as they all enjoy a steep ride to the top of the roller coaster ending their journey on a high as they all sing Seal, Kiss From A Rose.

Conclusion

At first i thought this movie was going to be cheap and have unfunny humour involved, but that wasn't the case at all, as i thought it was very funny and random at times, which i think is a good combination for a good comedy movie. 

Ed Helms played his character very well and was funny as always. Christina Applegate was average and played the role of the bored mother at home very well, with minimum funny scenes to her role. Skyler Gisondo, i thought played the timid, sensitive, bully victim at his best, making him one of the funniest characters of the movie and his little brother played by Steele Stebbins played a small part, which made the typical brotherly love very funny in some scenarios. 
Overall i thought the movie was a success as being one the first major comedies of the year so far and i think a lot of people will enjoy Vacation if they give it a chance.


Discussion
  1. Will you be watching Vacation anytime soon?
  2. If you've already seen it, what did you think?
  3. What was your favourite scene? & Why?
  4. What was your least favourite scene? & Why?
  5. Was the original or new Vacation better?

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