<em>'National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation'</em>, unlike predecessor <em>'National Lampoon’s European Vacation'</em>, is more akin to the original. A good watch it is, if still off from the first flick. The festive vibes are there, it's perhaps a bit too mean-spirited at times but overall works.

The cast are the cast, I don't think anyone stands out as being a great performer but they are all satisfactory. Chevy Chase is the obvious lead, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't rank his performance as anything overly higher than his co-stars. Interesting to see Julia Louis-Dreyfus appear, by the way.

All in all, there's enough there to entertain. The ending is suitably watchable, which is something I did feel was missing from the previous film.

My cousin can do an impeccable impression of Uncle Lewis saying "the ***blessing***"

> (5/5, originally reviewed 12/21/24)