The McCallister family plans a trip to Florida, but a series of events leads to one of their youngest, Kevin, getting on the wrong flight and becoming stranded in New York City. While the family scrambles to locate and reunite with him, Kevin scams his way into living at a hotel, but a pair of familiar criminals spot him in the city and plot their revenge.
Given the box office success of the first Home Alone, a franchise was likely inevitable. At the very least, the second film remains consistent to the first thanks to the returning cast and crew, to include writer John Hughes and director Chris Columbus. Both of them weave a new story but with the exact same story beats as the first. It does come across a rehash this way, forcing Kevin to undergo a whole new round of discovery, moral lessons, and home defense that feels very familiar (if not utterly derivative). The same elements of comedic, slapstick mischief and cartoony violence play out like they did before, but with a different set of circumstances and different setpieces. While Marv took an iron to the face in the last movie, how he’s hit by many bricks. While Harry had a blowtorch singe his scalp before, now it’s set totally on fire before literally exploding (and somehow he survives this). When you’re an 11 year old boy watching these shenanigans, with paint, toolboxes, kerosene, and pigeons becoming the mechanisms for a new round of vigilante justice, it comes off as so much bigger, bolder, and funnier.
This extends to the story as well. Going far beyond the premise of a boy stuck alone in a house, now the scenery opens up to the grandeur of NYC, which is romanticized to a huge degree but occasionally shows its threatening side. The familiar beats of Kevin splurging and exploring carry over from the first film, but there is something more significant in the way he navigates the city, tests the hotel staff, discovers Duncan’s Toy Chest, and connects with the pigeon lady. It’s a much bigger sand box than before. Even though the story pattern remains the same, it helps that Kevin carries himself with the same maturity he showed in the end of the first film. He came across as a total brat in the opening scenes of Home Alone 1—in the second film, he’s agreeably tempered, and even relatable. It only makes sense that plunging him into a whole city is the next greatest adventure for him, because it pushes his newfound maturity to the next level. His assumptions and perspectives are challenged once again. Threats are bigger and more dangerous. It comes across as an expanded and bigger-scale adventure, as every good sequel should.
One interesting quirk about the script is that it does play up the absurdity that Kevin is abandoned twice across the two movies, leading to scenes where the characters jokes about it. Parallels do factor into most scenes, often mirroring the first film either for contrast, to keep various gags running, or to expand on the family dynamic. If the repetition doesn’t bother you, then it comes across as consistent, and maybe even charming.
A big part of the film’s appeal is in its city setting, which is showcased with quality cinematography. The same qualities from before carry over, with camera movement and placement giving the film some snap where it’s needed, but not always drawing attention to itself. Colors continue to be naturalistic, but factor into key scenes where necessary. Editing is pretty snappy, and it’s especially notable (maybe even a little obnoxious) how it frequently cuts to close-ups with characters delivering a reaction phrase or expression. The cast is well-worn at this point, with Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O’Hara, Peter Heard, and many other familiar names delivering spirited and entertaining performances. A few good additions to the cast are Tim Curry, who plays a stuffy hotel concierge with a regal flair, Rob Schneider, who succeeds precisely because he’s toned-down and plays things straight, and Brenda Fricker, who balances menace and emotion with surprising nuance. John Williams returns to score this movie with the same themes as before, and it’s just as effective the second time around. And of course there are some commercial songs in the mix—strangely, I find them more fitting this time around.
I wouldn’t blame anybody for accusing this of being a shameless rehash, but I have a nostalgic bias. Then and now, I always admired how this film expanded the scope while staying true to the formula and gags of the first film. It helps that Hughes and Columbus put in the effort to make the story stick and still deliver wholesome messages and feelings where it counts. It’s much more than can be said about most other Christmas movie sequels.
8/10
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