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Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
1992 - PG - 120 Mins.
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| Director: Chris Columbus | | Producer: John Hughes | | Written By: John Hughes | | Starring: Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, Catherine O'Hara, John Heard, Kieran Culkin, Tim Curry, Brenda Fricker, Rob Schneider |
| Review by: John Ulmer |
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He's up past his bedtime in the city that never sleeps.
After the tragic events of the first “Home Alone” film, a now ten-years-old Kevin McCallister is having a bit of a problem. He’s been left by his family. Again. Only this time, he’s not at home. He’s home alone…in New York City! And – wait for it – there are some reminiscent faces in this sequel that may be more than reminiscent…criminals Harry and Marv are in NYC too, and they have payback for young Kevin…
The original cast and crew are reunited for an all-too-familiar sequel in this star-studded comic fantasy.
Macaulay Culkin is (supposedly) ten or twelve in this sequel. I can’t remember. Anywho, he looks almost exactly the same as he did in the last film. Maybe that’s because “Home Alone 2” was filmed barely a year after the first was released, giving Culkin little room to grow. “H:2” is basically the height of Culkin’s career before he went on to star in flops such as “The Good Son” (not only a box office flop, but an awful, dull movie).
John Heard and Catherine O’Hara are back as well, as Peter and Kate McCallister. Thank goodness they got them back for the sequel, otherwise, this would have been a bad movie.
But the actors that I am very surprised they got back for this sequel, and both really made this movie, are Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern as Harry and Marv respectively. After Pesci and Stern’s characters escape from jail, they come to New York and spot Kevin walking down the street, and instantly plan on getting revenge, all the while planning a heist of a toy store on Christmas Eve! That’s where Kevin steps in and creates some all too familiar (literally the exact same as the first) booby traps to stop the thieves…
This movie takes some fresh scenes – Kevin checking into an expensive hotel with his father’s credit car – but never enough. Almost all the scenes are re-hashed from the original, leaving little room for new material. They even go for a sentimental bird-lady scene, much like the one with the shovel man from the first movie…
Nevertheless, the sequel still has some good moments. Hotel owner Tim Curry walking into the hotel room and seeing the outline of a man in the shower comes to mind (Kevin has an inflatable clown his Aunt bought him in the shower to fool Curry), and I only wish they had come up with some more original booby traps at the end. That’s the downfall of this film.
With a few more cameos than the first film (Herbert Hoover), “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York” is worth seeing, even if originality isn’t its main trait. I also wish they could have brought back John Candy as a small cameo (reprising his role as Gus Polinski: Polka Band Chief) for the film, but they didn’t. Oh well. There are some other good stars in this film, anyway…
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