It’s no exaggeration to say that Home Alone is an icon of Christmas movies. While not knocking it out of the park with critics at the time, Home Alone would go on to make big bucks at the box office and become a staple for many home viewings during the holiday season. The success of the first movie lead to 20th Century Fox to produce a sequel that many people feel indifferent to. Some people loved it but others hated it for being a carbon copy of the last movie with none of the heart. Regardless of which side you pick there are still many things to like as well as dislike in this flawed yet intriguing sequel.
The Macalasters are ready to go on a vacation to Florida but once again Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) is the only one to cause trouble which leads to him being ostracized by his family and especially his mother (Catherine O Hara). This time Kevin makes it as far as the airport but he gets separated from his family and ends up getting on the wrong plane. Kevin soon discovers he’s ended up in New York City and with great pride and joy uses the money from his fathers bag to see the sights and stay at the plaza hotel. However, things take a turn for the worse when the Wet bandit's Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) show up in New York and plan to rob Duncan’s Toy Chest which leads Kevin to try and stop them once again in their tracks.
Now if you know the story of the last movie you’d most likely say that this is a straight-out copy of the last movie with little to no changes except for the setting and location. In any other universe, I would be just as mad as those who don’t like this movie by saying how much of a rip-off this movie is. For some surprising reason, even though I know this is a rip off, I still actually enjoy it because this movie knows it’s a complete retread of the last movie but decides to have as much fun being a retread as possible. The comedy is still pretty good and it has some fun scenes that are too irresistible to pass on. I know writer John Hughes and director Chris Columbus can make much more original and engaging movies than this one, but I just admire how much this movie has fun with itself despite being a mindless cash grab in order to make more money.
The Characters especially the main ones are basic repeats from the last movie which downplay that hurts this movie as basically it almost feels like these characters have learned little to nothing from the last movie. With that said, I'll still say that the cast is clearly to bring the same amount of effort and that is true from Macuilly Culkin as Kevin Catherine O Hara as Kevin’s Mom and Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as the Wet Bandits.There are even some new characters that make an impression including Tim Curry as the hotel manager who’s over the top performance is worthy of saying that he’s the best thing in this sequel. Overall the characters do a fine job but it would have been better if they have actually grown a bit from the last movie to make things more interesting.
One of the highlights of the last movie was the Christmas-like scenery and this movie is no different. The shots of New York are very impressive on their own but it’s even more wonderful when we get to see scenes that have Christmas lights and decorations all over the place. An example is Duncan’s toy chest as it feels like something you’d see in a north pole workshop. let's face it though, I bet the real visuals you were most likely eager to see are the new traps that Kevin will use to stop the wet bandits again. I will say that they don’t disappoint even though realistically the traps in this movie are much deadlier here than they were the last time. Nevertheless, they are well executed and still so much fun to watch even though it is still a big copy from the last movie.
The famous composer John Willams returns once more to score the home alone sequel and while it is clearly not as heart-tugging as last time, the score does its job convincingly enough to warrant at least a smile.
I’m not gonna lie, I kinda like this movie even despite the fact that it is a rip-off from an already solid Christmas movie. Trust me when I say that the stuff that’s good in this movie is really well such as the New York Christmas scenery, the deadly traps, and Tim Curry's entire performance. It’s not great, but it’s not as much of a sell-out as it still has many secret surprises of its own that make it worth watching around Christmas time. If you don’t like this movie it is completely understandable, but I have a feeling that I’ll still continue to watch this flawed but intriguing sequel that manages to get a reaction out of me every year.
(Final Grade: B-)