Taking place a year after the events from the first film (though for some weird reason Kevin is 10 in this film, when in the last film he was 8); the McCallister family is once again preparing for another Christmas vacation, only this time they'll be spending it in Miami Florida instead of Paris, but Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) doesn't at all seem pleased about the trip since Florida doesn't have any Christmas trees. Things don't get better for Kevin when his older Brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) humiliates him at a Christmas Pageant, which causes Kevin to once again give him a beating. Buzz of course gets away with his crime, and Kevin is sent to sleep on the third floor again. The next morning the McCallisters sleep in again because of Kevin's Father accidentally resetting his alarm clock (and yet still no one else seems to wake up since the power is still on and that they haven't learned from their mistakes in the first movie) and have to rush to the airport to catch their flight, but luckily Kevin manages to leave with them instead of being left home alone again. However, as the family is rushing to catch their plane, Kevin grabs his Father's bag looking for batteries to put into his "Talkboy" that he's obsessed with and mistakes a man who's wearing his Father's jacket to be his actual Father rushing to his flight for Florida. Kevin bumps into a flight attendant carrying boarding passes and loses Kevin's in the pile, but since the Plane is about to leave the flight attendant lets Kevin on the plane to locate his family first before she lets him leave on the flight. Kevin spots the guy who he thought was his Dad and instead of the flight attendant making sure that he's Kevin's Father, she just leaves him on the Plane that's heading to New York City, instead of Florida that somehow has an empty seat despite that it's only a few days a way from Christmas. As bummed that Kevin is at first when he finds out that he's being separated from his Family again, since he has his Father's cash and credit card, he uses them and his "Talkboy" to check into the Plaza Hotel and have fun going sight seeing in the City. All that fun changes when he runs into his old enemies Harry and Marv (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern) who have escaped from prison during a riot and come to New York to hide as they plan to rob an "FAO Schwartz" type of Toy Store carrying tons of cash that's going to be donated to a children's hospital. It is now once again up to Kevin to stop the two burglars and put them back in jail.
If any of this sounds very similar to the first film that's because it is. When you get down to it, this film is really just the first film all over again, only this time it's set in a different location. The film rehashes so many scenes and lines of dialogue along with it's similar plot that despite that those scenes and lines being altered a bit to make them new, you'll still catch on to the similarities between these two films pretty fast, which make the film so predictable that it doesn't leave that many surprises or having anything to hold you on the edge of your seat since you know how the film's going to end. Even the first image that we see after the opening credits and the last joke that we get before the end credits are just as similar as the first and last scene from the first film. If you were going to play a drinking game by taking a shot every scene and lines of dialogue that are similar to the first movie, you'd be stone cold dead.
When I reviewed the first film, I talked about how the emotional stuff and it's lessons about family could have easily just been thrown in as half-assed corn to give the film some kind of lesson to excuse all the violence and mischievous behaviors from our lead Kevin, which surprisingly didn't at all and was executed effectively to the point where it felt like it was the heart of the movie. This film on the other hand doesn't. I guess a lot of that has to do with the fact of how predictable everything in the film is, but even in the first film there were a few things in terms of plot that I found predictable. For example, I had a feeling that Old Man Marley was going to be a kind hearted old man (come on, the salt that Old Marley salts the sidewalks with turn bodies into mummies?) but the execution was done so beautifully that it made this predictable plot forgiving. The scene with him and Kevin talking about family did feel emotionally legit; the last scene with Marley getting together with his family after taking Kevin's advice was really moving; and on top of it, all these scenes tied perfectly together to the film's theme on family and Kevin's journey of growing up, instead of just throwing these scenes as a break from the humor. In this film we have a homeless woman with pigeons all around her played by Brenda Fricker. The minute when she appeared in the movie, I knew right away that she was going to be the sequel's Old Man Marley. That would of course be forgiven if the relationship and morals that her character has to offer were emotionally touching, but they sadly aren't. There's only one scene of Kevin being afraid of her (not counting the scene where she helps him). They soon become friends when they meet a second time. Then a few minutes later she shares a back-story about her life going to crap after being heartbroken and out of nowhere talks about doing a good deed which makes Kevin vow to be her friend, even though she doesn't believe him and the two go their separate ways (for now). She later on helps Kevin when all seems lost for him. And in the end Kevin gives her a gift that's meant to be a symbol of their friendship, but we never find out what happens to her afterwards if she’s still living on the streets or has moved on with her life. Does any of that sound a little half-assed? I mean the film's heart isn't really centered on doing good deeds (at least not until the climax) and it isn't centered on the power of friendship either. It to me sounds like the film needed this character and these two morals only because the first film had a moral. But the difference is that was the first film's heart and center, unlike this film where the emotional stuff feels forced. I mean to each their own, but does anyone really find the last scene of Kevin giving the pigeon women a gift as touching as seeing Old Man Marley getting together with his family as Kevin gets together with his? I certainly didn't, even as a kid.
Another major downer in terms of the film's emotional core is unlike the first film where Catherine O'Hara as the Mom was given a subplot to get back home to see her kid; she hardly gets anything to do in this film. For the majority of the film she sits around worrying about Kevin, while waiting for a phone call to track down his whereabouts. Now granted, in the first film she knew that she left Kevin home alone, where in this film she has no idea where Kevin is, but her emotional moments of her worrying about Kevin as she sits around at the hotel aren't as effecting as her worrying about Kevin being home alone in the first film. Even the scenes with Kevin missing his Mom and wanting to go home isn't as emotionally touching either, especially that scene where he and his Mother look out the window missing each other, that was really corny but at least it was short. When she does find out about Kevin's whereabouts, aside from one scene of her snapping at the hotel staff that's both being humorous and sad, her journey of finding Kevin in the big city isn't played out as funny and endearing as the extremes she went through to get back home to see Kevin in the first film, nor does it go on long enough to even call it a journey.
As predictable as the film is; as much as the film rehashes so many scenes and lines from the first movie; and as lacking of emotional investment that the film fails to carry, I must honestly admit that it still is a very fun and entertaining movie from beginning to end. Despite that Kevin's motivation of having a private vacation is incredibly weak and doesn't really lean towards an emotional message that the first film did with its premise, it's still an awesome set-up. Instead of our lead having the house to himself and a small town for him to run around in, he has a whole City to explore as he stays at a fancy hotel suite. That to me is a much cooler set-up than what the first film had, not to say that the first film’s set-up is bad by any means what-so-ever. The cool part about the film’s premise is Kevin doesn't just take on two idiotic bandits; he has to also take on a whole hotel staff led by Tim Curry as he tricks them to let him stay at the hotel. When Kevin does have to eventually take on the bandits, he's not stopping them from robbing a house, but he’s stopping them from robbing a Toy Store as he sets traps at house that's being renovated, which doubles the chaos and comedy. To top it all off, Kevin also carries a "Talkboy" to help him achieve some of goals. Yes it's obvious product placement, along with Kevin staying at the Plaza Hotel (which by the way has a bit of false advertisement since the Plaza in reality doesn't have pool, but screw it’s still a good scene) but man do they do a fun job playing around with the stuff that their advertising, which in my opinion makes it forgivable. As for Culkin's performance, he still owns the role of Kevin. It's true that his story-arc isn't as good as his story-arc in the first film, but he still brings enough of the charm that he had in the first film by being fun, heroic, bratty, and innocent. And despite that his lesson about appreciating his family seems to have been forgotten in this film, at least he acts more independent after the events from the first film.
The rest of recurring characters in this film all do just as good of a job as they did in the first film. Catherine O'Hara as the Mom, despite giving little to do, she does try really hard to bring the same humorous and emotional impact that she brought to the first movie, which shows and does work on a few occasions, even if it still doesn't stand above the after-thought subplot that she's given (that is if you can call it that). Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are still just as laugh out loud hilarious as they were in the first movie, and if you found them to be over the top in the first film, they really ham it up in this film. Joe Pesci is tougher than ever, who now has a personal vendetta against Kevin, while Stern is goofier than he’s ever been in the first film. As for the rest of the cast that plays Kevin's family, they all do a solid job, especially the ones who I praised in the first film. I have to say though, out of all the performances I praised in the first film regarding Kevin's family, the one who really stands out the most is Uncle Frank (Gerry Bamman), who's at his meanest here! They even got Ralph Foody to reprise his role as the gangster Johnny in a sequel to the old gangster flick that Kevin watched in the first movie.
As for the new cast of supporting characters, they're not bad either. Alright, I do think Pigeon Lady played by Brenda Fricker isn't as good or emotionally investing as the character that she's an obvious copy of, but with that said, Brenda Fricker does give a good performance if not an effective performance. At least there is a sense of friendship between her and Kevin, even if it is not that strong or intriguing. Eddie Bracken as the owner of the Toy Store that the bandits want to rob is very lovable as this sweet old man who cares for the children, which helps make you root for Kevin to stop the bandits even more. Then you finally have the hotel staff that Kevin manipulates. Dana Ivey does a natural job of playing Plaza Hotel the desk clerk, and Rob Schneider is surprisingly really funny as the Bellhop, who doesn't go over the top to the point where he's annoying, or playing a racial stereotype for that matter. However, the best performance in not just the supporting cast but the whole entire film in general goes to Tim Curry as the Concierge who's suspicious about Kevin checking into the hotel. Every scene he's in, he just owns from his over the top menacing stair to his constant creepy and yet humorous smiling. Seriously, half of the gags that are rehashed from the first film, Tim Curry pretty much save them from being cheap unfunny duplicates due to his reactions towards them.
Actually I have to admit, while the comical scenes that we all know in love in the first "Home Alone" movie are still just as hilarious and iconic as we remember them to be, I personally find myself laughing harder at the comedy that this movie has to offer. I know that most of the gags are rehashed gags from the original film, but I'm sorry I can't help it because this film really does take these iconic scenes to a whole new level. Instead of the Mother just shouting "Kevin" when she realizes that he's missing, she faints. Rather than having a Pizza boy think that the film Kevin is playing is actually a guy talking to him, it's Tim Curry and a hotel staff. And instead of a house party of mannequins on strings to make the burglars think that the family is home, it's an inflatable clown in the shower with Uncle Frank's voice that scares away Tim Curry. Even the traps that Kevin sets up for the bandits lead to bigger laughs with it's sound effects; over the top performances; traps that are similar to the traps to the first film that still lead to a surprise to make them fresh and new; and special effects. I still think the scenes in the original film are still funny and should still be appreciated (especially since this film re-uses the majority of those jokes) but when it comes to bigger laughs, for me this film delivers it big time.
However, with the constant re-use of jokes aside, if you hated how unrealistic the first film was with its humor and set-up and found the traps to be graphic, then you're really going to hate this film! I already pointed out the flaws when I discussed the plot, which I feel like should be enough to give you a clue of how unrealistic the film is, but believe me when I say that the film has tons more far-fetched stuff then you can imagine. Like Kevin being able to blow-up an inflatable clown and tie strings to it in no time; or the recordings on Kevin's "Talkboy" going on much longer than the time he was able to record the stuff he got; or that none of the five employees could ever pick-up on the fact that Kevin is using a TV to trick them; or Kevin pinching a woman's butt that Marv met earlier who slapped him in the face, but yet has no knowledge of the event, nor would I think she would have punched them out in reality. Even the traps are not only more dangerous than the traps that Kevin used in the film, but in reality those traps would seriously kill them! But much like what made the first film so funny, it wasn't trying to be realistic with it's comedy; and the scenes that we get are once again so hilarious, that even if it doesn't make that much sense, they're still great comical scenes that do just as good of a job of making you suspend your disbelief as the first film did.
By the way, remember how authentic the Christmas look and feel was in the first film, well now that Kevin has New York City to explore, the Christmas look has also been updated. I seriously love how they shot New York City during Christmas time; it looks just as beautiful as you would think it would be with all City lights and snow on the ground as Kevin visits famous City landmarks (one of them being Rockerfeller Center). Once again, the Toy Store that Kevin visits and has to save isn't just a cool and gigantic looking Toy Store (like the store it's based on) but the store itself is flooded with Christmas displays and toys everywhere you turn, which is what makes the Store so awesome. I even love that the film opens with a Christmas Pageant where things go wrong for Kevin, instead of it taking place inside the house again. As for the music composed by John Williams and the Christmas songs that we hear in the background, what can I say; it's just as wonderful as the soundtrack for the first film.
As heavily flawed as the film is where it's really just a rehash of the first movie with its similar plot, scenes, and jokes that makes the film extremely predictable, as well as not having the same emotional impact that the previous film had, I still think it's just as enjoyable. The performances are still good. The film being set in a City instead of a house is a cooler premise. The jokes, as similar as they are to the first film, are still laugh out loud hilarious. And how the film captures New York City during Christmas time is spectacular. Still, I don't think the film has won as many audiences over like the first film did after so much time has passed since its release, and honestly I can understand why. Despite how unrealistic and even at times cruel and brutal the humor, slapstick, and situations were in the first movie (as if it was intended to be based on realism) it still did have a story and lesson to tell that didn't feel half-assed thus making it a little more forgiving for audiences who didn't find the comedy funny, while the sequel on the other hand doesn't, which I'm sure is what really drew a lot of people away from this film. Personally I love it despite the issues that many people (including myself) have with it, and I do think that it holds up as a fun sequel that may not be as great as the first film, but is still an absolute joy to watch!
RATING 3/5
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