With the annual expo known as CinemaCon off and running in Las Vegas, Warner Bros. showed off a ton of footage from their upcoming slate last night during a special presentation - and in addition to giving us our first looks at both Point Break and Black Mass, we also got to see an early look at some brand new stuff from John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein’s upcoming comedy Vacation. Considering the movie is only a few months from release, it probably won’t be too long until you get to see some of the material for yourself, but I was happily surprised by what was delivered.
Kicking off with some clips from the original movie, as well as a quick shot of both Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo reprising their roles in the new film, the footage really began with Rusty Griswold (Ed Helms) standing in the kitchen with his wife, Debbie (Christina Applegate), and two sons, explaining that the family is in a rut and that they need to do something to get out of it. His big solution is to re-live one of his favorite childhood memories and take his entire clan on a long road trip to the famous Walley World. In a bit of playful meta humor, Debbie asks why he would want to re-do his vacation from 30 years ago, and the oldest son explains that he’s "never even heard of the original vacation." This isn’t enough to slow Rusty’s enthusiasm, however, as he explains, "Doesn’t matter. The new vacation will stand on its own."
From there, the reel featured a string of chuckle-worthy scenes – admittedly showing off gags that are just a bit on the blue side. This includes a hot tub conversation between Rusty and his son discussing what a "rimjob" is; the discovery of a glory hole in a bathroom stall; and a sequence where the Griswolds think that they’re climbing into a hot spring, but wind up finding themselves swimming in raw sewage. This run is capped off by a moment featuring Chris Hemsworth, who play’s Rusty’s brother-in-law/the husband of his sister Audrey (Leslie Mann). Rusty and Debbie are in bed when Hemsworth’s character walks in wearing nothing but his underwear – and sporting what I’ll politely refer to as a giant package.
Wrapping it all up, the final clip in the footage featured a call-back to the original, with Rusty driving along the road with his family having fallen asleep. An attractive blonde woman driving in a red sports car pulls up next to the Griswold’s car – clearly a reference to Christie Brinkley’s role in the first Vacation - and like his father once did, Rusty begins making eyes at her. This flirtation is short-lived, however, because it turns out that the woman is driving on the wrong side of the road and her car gets annihilated by a truck when Rusty turns away for a brief moment.
Admittedly, the Vacation sizzle reel didn’t exactly the most mature material I’ve seen so far here at CinemaCon, but I will admit that it did make me laugh and become more interested in seeing the final product. We’ll just have to wait and see how it all comes together when the movie hits theaters on July 31st, Stay tuned for the first trailer to arrive online!
