Sequel to 1983 road movie still has the innuendo and raunch that made us laugh so hard. The laughs aren't as large and frequent with EUROPEAN VACATION, but it still is definitive of the series's sponsor's name (National Lampoon).Unlike the first one, this is not based on a short story teen comedy director John Hughes
had published for the National Lampoon magazine. Nothing unfortunate about that, though! The laughs in this follow-up come from similar jokes and bawdiness that the first one had, but they aren't merely copies, either.The cast for this one is slightly different: Clark W. Griswold, Jr. is still portrayed by Chevy Chase, and Ellen Griswold is still being played by Beverly D'Angelo; but the kids are different, which was a fairly big mistake. Anthony Michael Hall, for whatever reason, said he didn't want to do a sequel. I don't know what the deal was with the person who performed as Audrey. But still, it would have been better with the same kids as before. The new actors look similar to the other ones, but their roles are not fully believable.That said, NATIONAL LAMPOON'S EUROPEAN VACATION is a fun second outing. It isn't a must-see, though, and it is quite dumb in comparison to the original. Fans of #1 should enjoy it.
August 6, 2011
