People are voting emotionally.

Just perfect...

Best movie ever!

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The first "Nicolas" movie was a comic delight, mainly because it successfully evoked the uniquely wild and wonderful mental universe of children, where the most sensible ideas sound ridiculous and the most ridiculous ideas sound sensible. The movie also provided an original (and very funny) take on the age-old subject of sibling rivalry.Sadly for all concerned the sequel is far, far worse than the original. There is a considerable decrease in charm, wit and imagination. I don't exactly know what causes this slackening, but I suppose it's got something to do with a shift in emphasis. The parents, both husband and wife, gain in importance, which is a problem since the screenplay provides them with far-fetched and unconvincing adventures. (The dance sequence involving the wife needs to be seen to be believed.) Meanwhile, we're getting a lot of new (child) characters, at least a number of which are not as funny or memorable as the originals. Last but not least I was amazed by the absence of Nicolas' baby sister, whose arrival pretty much dominated the first movie. Listen, people, you can't make a whole movie revolving around the birth of a second child, and then make a sequel in which the said child is never shown or mentioned : it creates a continuity hole the size of Ginnungagap.So I can't really recommend the second movie - but do watch the first, it's delightful.

colors and photography and humor. all from the same spirit of summer holiday. so French than becomes, scene by scene, universal. nothing special. except a form of joy who remains refreshing. because it is a film about childhood essence and about family. about small things, details, cinema industry and good choices. about a form of life , desired by everybody, innocent, seductive, comfortable. beach, room of hotel, meets - few magical. memories about the films by Tati and about similar stories. Valerie Lemercier and Kad Merad doing great job. Luca Zingaretti as seductive director . and eulogy to an unique age and its force of imagination.

The original Nicolas film, still directed by Laurent Tirard, was cute and funny. Its humour relied upon genuine written material forming consistent scenes and situations, and often based on the child's point-of-view, as in René Goscinny's exquisite little stories. "Les Vacances" relies a lot on nods and references to past cinema, and the rest is either disjointed (loose ends - what happens in the end with the tight spot at the nude beach Nicolas' father gets himself into?...) or simply unlikely. Even though the excellent Valérie Lemercier and Kad Merad still play Nicolas' parents, the actors in general, save for Bouli Lanners as Bernique, are insincere in their delivery and reactions and/or poorly directed. The father is supposed to be heartbroken by his wife extending her stay without him at the crazy big-money party, yet his face remains almost expressionless all the while...Also, one scene suggests that hurting severely a live animal can be perceived as humorous, which I have found particularly tasteless.

I can say, for sure, as all of Goscinny's work, this film will delight kids and grown-ups alike. For children, there's a lot going on for Nicolas and his family during a vacation moved from the mountains to the sea. But for all of us who like light-spirited films as deep ones, this one breaks barriers seldom seen in recent times. If you want to be thrilled by technical issues that will not scream "I'm here" during your first watch, please, watch it again! They designed this film with much more detail than even Goscinny's stories when they were depicted in its time. Color is of the essence. And here, designers got their hands on it as if it was the end of the world. It's stunning, to say the least, the use of color and textures to make this film a truly memorable feat of design. Photography, on the other end, is superb. The night scenes are beautiful and luscious. The time-warp costumes and color matching of absolutely everything helps a lot in telling the story. And to cap it all, the cars are all of the era, and not just "period" cars. They chose a line-up of beautiful museum quality, colorful and perfectly matching cars with specs for the time-frame of the film. If you love the Facel-Vega, Citroën, Peugeot, Renault, Simca... you're in for a treat. Watch the kids! Watch dad and mom and granny! They are great. Of course, there may be some flaws, but I see them as part of a funny, uplifting, absurd and very very French film. What cinema should always be: entertaining and beautiful, no matter the subject.