Vegas Vacation (1997)

Rusty (Ethan Embry) is back to wearing Izods. In this one, his collection includes yellow and turquoise.

They also bring back Christie Brickley and her Ferrari gimmick (this time she's a mom). While I like that they bring back things that might remind us of the classic Vacation (1983), I also feel like the "callbacks" can be almost them saying, "We've run out of anything new to offer."

Enter Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) and his family. They're back, because now they live in the desert outside of Las Vegas. Eh...

Elisa Bell and Bob Ducsay took over the screenplay duties from John Hughes, but it feels like they wanted to try to go back to Vacation (1983) roots. But honestly, this series just proves my theory that sequels are never as good as the original, and in this case, even the original wasn't all that great to begin with.

On the positive side, after having no reason for being in Christmas Vacation (1989), I was glad to see that Rusty and Audrey (Marisol Nichols) had something to do in this one. Also, even though I'm not a big fan of Cousin Eddie, at least he was a meaningful part of the story this time.

Overall, I don't loathe this movie, but it's not one that will stick in my memory for very long.

Rating: 1.5/5 stars

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