'Vacation': What the sequel says about comedy in Hollywood
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Molly Driscoll Staff writer
From the sound of the reviews, the new comedy in theaters was not a fun 鈥淰acation.鈥澛�
鈥淰acation,鈥� which was released on July 29, is a comedy about Rusty Griswold, the son seen in the 1983 comedy classic 鈥淣ational Lampoon鈥檚 Vacation.鈥� Now grown with a family of his own, Rusty (Ed Helms) decides that he鈥檒l embark on a trip with his own wife and children.聽
It remains to be seen how the film will do at the weekend box office, but so far, critics aren鈥檛 fond of the film, with writing that the movie 鈥渟ubstitute[s] coarseness for genuine cleverness鈥� and calling it 鈥渕iserably unfunny.鈥�
But one question about the film is what exactly to call it. A sequel-reboot? The film takes place after 鈥淟ampoon鈥� and original parents Chevy Chase and Beverly D鈥橝ngelo make appearances, but it centers on Helms, his wife (portrayed by Christina Applegate), and their sons rather than Chase and D鈥橝ngelo heading up the proceedings.
Most comedies in recent years proceed on a straight sequel path if there鈥檚 a follow-up. For example, the comedy 鈥淭ed 2,鈥� which was released this summer, continued to focus on protagonist John (Mark Wahlberg) and his talking teddy bear best friend (voiced by Seth MacFarlane). The film didn鈥檛 veer off to center on Ted鈥檚 sister or John鈥檚 brother鈥檚 adventures with a talking stuffed rabbit (Hollywood executives, put down your notepads, no one would like that).聽
For the most part, recent comedies have either been straight remakes, with the characters keeping names and personalities (for example, the "Pink Panther" remake with Steve Martin), or sequels. It鈥檚 been sci-fi and fantasy franchises that have embraced the reboot trend, as seen with this summer鈥檚 鈥淭erminator Genisys,鈥� which takes place in the world of the classic 1980s series but imagines a different storyline. Comic book movies have also gotten in on the trend, as the newest Spider-Man was recently cast and an upcoming movie will reportedly bring Peter Parker back to high school with, presumably, a slightly different storyline than in previous incarnations.
However, some other comedies have followed this reboot pattern rather than simply greenlighting a sequel. The movie 鈥�21 Jump Street,鈥� which was based on the 1980s TV series, turned the story into a comedy and centered on two new police officers, portrayed by Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. As in 鈥淰acation,鈥� original stars Johnny Depp and Peter DeLuise briefly turn up but the movie is by no means about them.聽
And next summer will see the arrival of a new 鈥淕hostbusters鈥� film. Original 鈥淕hostbusters鈥� star Dan Aykroyd will make an appearance, according to the actor himself, but the story will center on four new characters, portrayed by Kristen Wiig, Melissa McCarthy, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon.聽
Can anything take down the reboot? Right now, it looks like the answer is no as the trend spreads to comedies.
