Movie Review — National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985)
Release Date: July 26th, 1985
Starring: Chevy Chase, Beverly D’Angelo, Dana Hill and Jason Lively
Director: Amy Heckerling (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Johnny Dangerously, Look Who’s Talking, Look Who’s Talking Too, Clueless, Loser, I Could Never Be Your Woman, Vamps)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy
Runtime: 1 hr 35 min
“Yep, the Griswolds are back…!” This is the ironic final line of the first sequel in the Vacation franchise, National Lampoon’s European Vacation. Plopped into the middle of 1980s while feeling like it was ripped from a 1970s independent film fault, this is easily the worst Vacation in the franchise and sadly John Hughes’ worst piece of writing in his career.
Coming in at 1 hour and 34 minutes, it’s a wonder how the film seems so long. This is a lackluster, poorly fueled, depressing piece of garbage. Thank God for Chevy Chase’s presence, otherwise this would honestly be one of the worst films of all-time as it is the most depressing film of the 1980s.
After a welcoming and thrillingly thematic start with the wonderfully familiar hit, “Holiday Road” playing in the background (honestly one of the highest marks for this mundane, sluggish project), we start out with the Griswold’s being on a hit gameshow, “Pig and a Poke” where the famous family wins a contest and is rewarded a trip to Europe. This opening sequence immediately feels out of place, like a gimme, enforced opening scene pulled from the worst sequels in film history — this one being one of them. As we see Clark, Ellen, Rusty and Audrey daydream on their flight to England, it’s very clear that the actors of the Griswold children, especially Audrey, are annoyingly formidable in their roles.
Speaking of formidable, the darkness of the film weighs down on its quality immensely. As soon as we get to England, the cinematography and set decor is very sad and depressing. The characters we meet are less than funny, whom of which are scattered with humor all too dry to last our attention (the well-known character on the bike sticks out to many viewers while it’s rather dated now).
Clark’s glasses are there as Chevy Chase’s performance holds this thing down from it becoming totally unwatchable. Throughout London, Paris, Germany and Italy, the constant droning, on and on of lackluster sightseeing only makes the film more ripe with boredom. Scenes are unnecessary and overly long such as the dancing sequence in Germany or the completely stupid ending with Clark and Ellen trying to reunite on the road, with Ellen’s car “excitedly” crashing into a fountain in Rome.
Of the all the National Lampoon’s Vacation films, this is by far the worst entry. Vacation and Christmas Vacation are loved by many (understandably so) however European Vacation is a driveled piece of garbage that hangs onto its own existence through Chevy Chase’s star presence and simply being an entry in the franchise.
National Lampoon’s European Vacation is always a film to skip.
Overall Score:
4-Star Scale: 1.0 star
Report Card: D-
Out of 10: 2.2 out of 10
Out of 100: 22
