Release Date: July 29, 2015 Comedy movies rarely get remade. Unlike action or horror films, they do not lend themselves well to the format of a remake; jokes are what make comedies comedies, after all - you can't just produce an update with a new cast retelling the same gags, because why would anybody pay to see that? And people don't want a comedy remake with new jokes, either, because it was the jokes that they remembered in the first place. It's with those thoughts that the upcoming fourth sequel to Nation Lampoon's Vacation comes across as a spectacularly terrible idea, regardless of its quality; it is, essentially, a sequel, but it might as well be a remake or a reboot for what it's worth. Its trailer (not completely unfunny in its execution, mind) reads like an attempt to go back to the beginning - the fact that it purports to be a sequel is mostly irrelevant. There is even a joke in the trailer that suggests the youth of today have no idea what National Lampoon's Vacation even is, and that "the new Vacation will stand on its own." It's also scary, because Vacation feels like the first step in a horrible new direction; the first movie in an oncoming trend: an agenda to "reboot" comedy franchises. How long will it be before classic like This Is Spinal Tap, Blazing Saddles and Groundhog Day find themselves repackaged and modernised with new stars? Not long, perhaps, and sooner than you think.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
