[yasr_overall_rating]
One year after Kevin was left home alone and had to defeat a pair of bumbling burglars, he accidentally finds himself in New York City, and the same criminals are not far behind.
When “Home Alone” came out in 1990, it made a household name out of its young star, newcomer Macaulay Culkin and the film is still one of the highest-grossing comedies of all-time ($581.1 million). Naturally, after its huge success, 20th Century Fox put a sequel in the works. Two years later, we had “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” and while it did big business upon its initial theatrical release, the numbers paled in comparison to its predecessor. Still, it didn’t stop Fox from producing another three sequels, five in total, and while parts 3 thru 5 starred different kids in each installment, it obviously found an audience with younger kids.
“Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” takes the exact same premise of the original and moves the story to New York City. Suffice it to say, if they had simply set part 2 in the McCallister house from the first film, people, especially kids, would have tired of it pretty quickly and it would have seemed pretty unoriginal. The title is an oxymoron, quite simply, it states that Kevin is still Home Alone but this time, he’s Lost in New York. Granted, if they had just called it “Lost in New York,” a lot of people might not have realized it was a sequel so keeping the Home Alone verbiage in the title let everyone know exactly what it was.
For those who haven’t seen the original (what are you, Millennials?) it is actually worth a viewing and has some hilarious moments throughout. Basically, young Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left home alone by his family after they leave their house in a hurry for their Christmas vacation. In this day and age, the parents would probably be charged with child endangerment but this was set in 1990 when a scenario like this could be seen as funny, and within the context of the story, much of it was. While home alone, Kevin decides to have fun and eats bowls of ice cream, stays up late watching TV, and generally, gets into all sorts of mischief. Along the way, two petty thieves, Harry Lime (Joe Pesci) and Marv Merchants (Daniel Stern), decide to break into Kevin’s house but he is a kid, and he is resourceful, and stops them at every turn, with uproarious results.
“Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” takes that exact same premise but shifts the action to New York. It is one year later and the McCallisters are getting ready to take their Christmas vacation in Florida but while running late, again, they end up boarding their plane while Kevin accidentally boards a flight bound for New York. Once he gets there and realizes his predicament, instead of freaking out, like any normal kid would do, and going straight to airport security, he decides to check into the ritzy and expensive Plaza Hotel, thanks to the fact that he has all of his father’s credit cards and vacation cash. Naturally, once his family reaches Florida and realize Kevin is missing, they must make their way to the city that never sleeps, while Kevin orders room service and explores the big city all by himself. Throw into the mix the fact that Harry and Marv from part one, have just broken out of prison, and accidentally bump into Kevin on the street, the stage is set as they give chase and follow Kevin into his uncle’s lavish home, which is being renovated while he is in Europe, and gives Kevin the much-needed tools and supplies he requires in order to cause havoc with the two bumbling thieves once again.
There is absolutely nothing original about “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York,” it basically rehashes everything from part one and hopes no one will notice. I distinctly remember seeing “Home Alone” at the Savoy cinema in Dublin in 1990 and I laughed out loud many times. I left the theater in great form but two years later, I remember sitting in the Savoy cinema, watching “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York” and afterward, leaving in a bad mood at the thought that Hollywood didn’t once try to add anything original to this new iteration. While the majority of characters from the original return, not one of them seems to have matured or learned anything from the events that transpired in part one. Watching the parents rush through the airport and then get on the plane, without double and triple checking that their entire family is present, was just totally unrealistic, even for a movie set in the early ’90s. And while it is a comedy, realism just doesn’t seem to exist, until it’s too late. Tim Curry and Rob Schneider make appearances but they are sorely underutilized. Even the great Chris Columbus, who had directed “Adventures in Babysitting” and would later go on to direct “Mrs. Doubtfire,” “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” and “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” could not save this travesty. The only redeeming aspect was John Williams’ high-spirited and vivacious score, the man is a musical god who could probably save any celluloid disaster. Well, except for “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” but that’s another story.
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