“National Lampoon’s European Vacation” is a lot like the first “Vacation” film. Both put smiles on the faces of the audience members but never a big laugh. It is a completely neutral film that never amounts to much.

The Griswold family, led by Clark (Chevy Chase “Caddyshack”, “Fletch”), wins a tv game show and are on their way to Europe. Once there, they do all the basic things that people do when they visit Europe but nothing they do is particularly funny. Arguably the best part is the final shot before the credits… if it were the first then at least you could sit down for a minute or so before leaving the film.

Chevy Chase is once again dull as Clark Griswold. Beverley D’Angelo (“American History X”) provides a mild snigger as the mother/wife Ellen in a shower scene but that really is it. The children in these films have never been good but here they are really bad. The other characters aren’t very good and the biggest disappointments are the several British actors featured. The most notable one is Eric Idle of “Monty Python” fame. The material given to all the characters isn’t horrible but it is just dull.

“European Vacation” has another nasty dog joke like the first, which I could do without. Overall, this is about as funny as the first so if you liked the original then this sequel should impress you. I feel it has one or two kind of decent moments but the rest of it is just average so to me, it is yet another dud Chevy Chase film and yet another dud film from National Lampoon. I like comedies that can make me laugh or does something more than just make me smirk every now and then. If they can only accomplish that, they haven’t truly struck a nerve with me.