My Review of Home Sweet Home Alone (2021)

Written by Mikey Day And Streeter Seidell

Directed by Dan Mazer

Hunter: "Ugh, this is garbage.  I don't why they're always trying to remake the classics. Never as good as the originals."

And my final review for now in this franchise and it got a bit of an upgrade. Instead of straight to television, the sixth installment in the franchise to get the cushy Disney+ release. Does that mean a uptick in quality?

Debatably, not entirely. This does undeniably still feel like a movie not strong enough for theatres but it's actually a bit better than the previous two movies. Not by a huge margin. Oh and the general idea gets a bit of a mix up, so points there.

Anyways the kid in question is a British child named Max Mercer (Archie Yates) who gets left home alone in his very big house with his mostly German speaking Alexa substitute as his family head to Tokyo and leave him behind. They're not very well developed with his mother, Carol (Aisling Bea) somewhat wasted in the role. It's a thankless role tbh.

As for the thieves in question, this was where I think the movie did work. This time around, it was another married couple named Jeff (Rob Delaney) and Pam McKenzie (Ellie Kemper). They're about to lose their home and in order to save it, they need to sell an ugly boy doll to raise the cash. Except the doll's gone missing.

The mix up being that Jeff and Pam falsely assume that Max has stolen the doll and Max falsely assuming that Jeff and Pam want to sell him. From there on in, Max inflicted multiple amounts of damage to both Jeff and Pam before both sides realise their mistake and try to help one another one.

Overall, the strength of this one was trying in vain to mix it up in terms of the usual dynamics between the kid and the burglars. I appreciated that and it felt more like it was part of the original duology than the last three. Even Buzz (Devin Ratray) has a small part as a police officer to add to the connectivity.

- I did laugh at Hunter's comment at the very awful Angels With Filthy Souls remake on the TV during one scene.

- Standout music: (There's No Place Like) Home For The Holidays by Robert Goulet.

- The movie implied that Kevin has gone into Home Security and likes to mess with Buzz during the Holidays.

- Chronology: Christmas 2021, which was when the film was released around on Disney+.

Home Sweet Home Alone was actually pretty decent. Not amazing but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I still think if this franchise is going to regain momentum, a legacy sequel needs to be the next thing it does.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (2012)

 

Written by Aaron Ginsburg And Wade McIntyre

Directed by Peter Hewitt

Hughes: "I don't want to upset some ghost gangster."

Sinclair: "Look, we're going in, ghost or no ghost!"

Keeping with the non theatrical releases of this franchise with diminishing returns, this fifth installment might be better than the fourth's misguoded attempts to have it's cake and eat it, but it's still marred with it's own problems going forward.

On the plus side, there's no attempt to recast/reboot the McCallisters and instead it's a new family (like the third installment) that get the focus. Yup, due to work, the Baxter family swap California for Maine much to the disdain of children Alexis (Jodelle Ferland) and Finn (Christian Martin).

These kids really don't like living in a small town or to be away from their gadgets for too long and because of this, their exasperated parents Curtis (Doug Murray) and Catherine (Ellie Harvie) leave them home alone to their own devises. 

From here on in, the usual hijinks ensue with Finn acting up and Alexis wanting to sneak out to the mall. Oh and a bunch of art thieves looking to break into the Baxters home so they could obtain a very valuable painting, which forced the siblings and a snow obsessed kid named Mason (Peter DaCunha) to stop said thieves as well as a distant gamer named Simon (Bill Turnbill).

The thieves in question being led by Sinclair (Malcolm McDowell) and his accomplices Jessica (Debi Mazar) and Hughes (Eddie Steeples). They're an okay bunch of characters but their story takes a bit too long to get going and their defeat was a bit too quickly done with.

Overall some lessons were learned, gifts and rewards were received and being a thief in this franchise continues to result in excruciating pain inflicted upon by children as well as a jail sentence. Overall, that's it really.

- Originally this was going to be called Home Alone 5: Alone In The Dark.

- There's no references to the McCallisters at all, making this relatively unconnected to the original two movies.

- Standout music: Deck The Halls was used here.

- Chronology: 2012 Maine making this the first movie not to be set in Chicago for this franchise.

Home Alone: The Holiday Heist isn't a great movie by any stretch of the imagination but it's harmless enough. Better than the fourth but below the first three movies. It's inoffensive but far from a must see either.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House (2002)

 

Written by Debra Frank & Steve L. Hayes

Directed by Rod Daniel

Kevin: "Robbers were trying to rip off your house!"

Natalie: "So you chose to trash it?"

Kevin: "No I was trying to protect it!"

Natalie: "By trashing it?"

Well, this one is a bit odd, innit? After the third one going down the reboot route and having no ties to the first two movies, this decides it wants to be both a reboot and a sequel to said first two movies. Except this time, Kevin McCallister is played by Mike Weinberg and he's lost a few family members along the way.

In this movie, it seems that Kevin's parents (Clare Carey and Jason Beghe) have separated and Peter himself has hooked up with a rich girlfriend, Natalie (Joanna Going) who doesn't do much to conceal her obvious disdain for Kevin and to be fair to her, Kevin does trash her house in order to stop a returning foe and new accomplice. I mean, he really trashed her out. I know we're not supposed to like Natalie but even I was kind of on her side there.

The returning foe in question would be Marv from the first two movies, only this time around he's played by French Stewart and seems to have more of Harry's personality than his own. He's also got a wife named Vera (Missi Pyle) who definitely comes across as a female version of her husband's former personality at times.

They're decent enough foils and there's something amusing enough in Marv's clear displeasure of being reminded of Kevin being a thorn in his side. Their scheme to kidnap some rich kid never comes to plan and there's the usual trope of Kevin warning people of danger and not being believed. At this point, Kevin probably shouldn't bother as the adults never listen to him until it's too late.

There's also the trope of Kevin misjudging one adult figure - in this case Natalie's initially standoffish butler, Mr. Prescott (Erick Avari) but not seeing that seemingly kindly (and very Irish in that US kind of way) Molly Merchants (Barbara Babcock) was actually Marv's mother and the brains behind this operation. She's a decent enough antagonist, but not clever enough to outwit Kevin though.

As for the rest of the movie, Natalie's a cartoonishly bad stepmother that it's no surprise that Peter and Kate reunite but it's horribly unearned. Buzz is nowhere near as effective as the previous two movies and like I said, the rest of Kevin's extended have seemingly been yeeted out of existence. 

- This was the first movie to be a television one and it's follow up also would share the same fate.

- Originally this was going to be a sequel to the third movie (and it probably should've been) before it was decided to focus on Kevin once again.

- Kevin's not actually home alone at any point in this movie, in either house he's staying at. That did make me laugh tbh.

- This was the final film to be helmed by director Rod Daniel.

Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House is definitely by far the weakest entry of the bunch in this franchise (I say at the time of not seeing the fifth one) and I do think if they didn't want to focus on Alex again, maybe they should've gone with a different kid than bringing Kevin back but none of the original cast. 

Rating: 5 out of 10

My Review of Home Alone 3 (1997)

 

Written by John Hughes

Directed by Raja Gosnell

Alex: "You're not gonna find me up there, you big, dumb, law-breaking knuckle-heads!"

Earl Unger/Alice/Burton Jernigan: "He's outside!"

Alex: " Recognize this?"

When a franchise is so successful but your main cast don't really want to do more, what the hell do you do? Do you let it rest and try your luck with something else or do you just get a group of new people in to effectively tell the same story, yet again?

While it should've been the former with this particular franchise, it definitely became a case of the latter as once again, a group of baddies find themselves getting royally outsmarted by a child. Looks like Kevin McAllister isn't the only bane for a baddie's plans.

This time around, it's a young boy named Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz) who has come down with the chickenpox and also a case of cabin fever when he spies on some rather suspicious looking people - Peter Beaupre (Olek Krupa), Alice Ribbons (Rya Kihlstedt), Burton Jernigan (Lenny Von Dohlen) and Earl Unger (David Thornton) enter his neighbourhood looking for a rather lucrative microchip.

While Harry and Marv were smaller scale in terms of their crime antics, this lot are somewhat more ambitious and when Alex tries to warn the police, his parents, Jack (Kevin Kilmer) and Karen (Haviland Morris) are of course sceptical, along with his scornful siblings, so it becomes up to Alex to save the day and his neighbour, Mrs Hess (Marian Seldes) from the baddies in question.

The jokes effectively write themselves as Alex wastes no time coming up with as many traps and stunts to get the better of the gang in question and of course, there's also a nice friendship that builds up between him and Mrs Hess. His family on the other hand do seem a lot less focused on than Kevin's were. 

- This movie might be notable for being one of Scarlett Johansson's first movie roles. She plays Alex's sister. 

- Raja Gosnell who directed this movie, also edited the previous two.

- Despite being set in Chicago, there are no references to any characters from the first two movies. 

- In spite of the winter setting, it's actually set after Christmas, breaking away from the tradition of this franchise.

Home Alone 3 is much less of a sequel but more of an attempt of a reboot. The real question is that while it's nowhere near as good as the infamous first two movies, is it actually a bad movie? Truthfully, not really but nor is it a great one either. It lacks the magic of what went before but it's diverting enough to watch.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)

Written by John Hughes
Directed by Chris Columbus

Kevin: "You can mess with a lot of things, but you can't mess with kids on Christmas."

This probably won't be a controversial (or maybe it will, depending on who reads this), but this is one of those sequels that in my opinion manages to edge out the original. There's also about three other sequels but like most people, I'd prefer not to acknowledge their overall existence.

On the surface of it, Home Alone 2: Lost In New York isn't actually that much different from the first movie, except for the bit where Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) winds up in the city that never sleeps without his family but it's not long before he's checking into the Plaza with an eccentric staff (including Tim Curry) on his tail and a reunion with the world's least competent thieves, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern) to boot.

Of course, there's a nice view of New York in this movie and the place never looks more beautiful onscreen (and I imagine in general) than it does when it's filmed at Christmas with plenty of festive and wintry imagery. If you're going to get 'lost' in a place during this time of year, then New York certainly wouldn't be the worst place to be lost in.

Seeing Kevin outsmart the hotel staff is amusing as is his second confrontation with Harry and Marv. You'd think after the first movie, they would've wised up to his antics but yet again, they become victim to a barrage of painful pranks that realistically should've killed the both of them on the spot. This kind of over heightened violence though is too funny to watch and there's something rather glorious in seeing the two of them being outwitted by Kevin for a second year running.

Of course amongst all the cartoon violence (the scene earlier in the movie with the piano teacher getting hit with a wooden tree cracks me up), the movie also has a lot of heart to it as well. Kevin's motivations for going after Harry and Marv was to stop them robbing a toy store and the friendship he struck up with Brenda Fricker's Bird Lady was lovely (though exactly like the one he struck up with the snow guy from the first movie). There was also the usual falling out and making up with his family which still managed to be effective second time around.

- I loved the use of an inflatable clown, that Talkboy and Angels With Even Filthier Souls to wreck havoc on the hotel staff.
- A recently elected President makes a brief cameo in this movie but don't let that deter your enjoyment.
- I loved the music in this movie, especially Darlene Love's All Alone On Christmas.
- The turtle doves were created for the movie by John Perry, known for his sculptures of sea life. I thought they were a lovely touch for this one.

In some ways, this is a sequel that's almost close to being a remake of the first movie but saying that, I just think Home Alone 2: Lost In New York is the better movie and definitely a recommended movie to watch during this Christmas week.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Home Alone (1990)

Written by John Hughes
Directed by Chris Columbus

Kevin: "Merry Christmas ya filthy animals and a Happy New Year."

Well, we all know this movie, don't we? I'm going to be slightly controversial with this review by starting off with admitting that this while a great movie, is not my favourite Christmas movie and that I slightly prefer the sequel. I'm also going to admit that despite a great performance from Macauley Culkin, Kevin McAllister is not one of the most likeable of child protagonists we've ever had in a Christmas movie.

Granted, his parents (John Heard and Catherine O'Hara), siblings and other relatives aren't exactly the most likeable of people either but considering some of the damage and chaos that follows Kevin, maybe they had the right idea in leaving him behind while the decided to go to Paris for the Christmas Holidays.

And then there's Kevin's unholy acts of terrors on bumbling burglars Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern). In fact, considering the amount of pranks and hijinks that Kevin subjected them to, it's amazing that both burglars made it out of this movie alive, never mind later pop up in the New York based sequel.

Not to mention the fact that Kevin gravely misjudged kindly neighbour Old Man Marley (Robert Blossom) as well but at least the latter came to Kevin's aid when the burglars suddenly got the better of his dangerous pranks.

Okay, on a serious note, I do like this movie a lot. It's certainly an iconic one from the early 1990s and a career defining/restricting movie for Culkin and there isn't a bad performance throughout. While it does get a little sugary at the end (it's a Christmas movie, it's in the rules somewhere), there's enough fun and mayhem to keep things moving along that the saccharine moments at the end are more moving for it.

- The movie that Kevin watches on video tape is not a real film, but footage specially created. It was called Angels With Filthy Souls.
- Apparently the concept of this movie came about during the filming of Uncle Buck.
- This was the highest grossing movie of 1990.
- There's some kind of legend of Elvis being in this movie. Considering he died over a decade before this movie was made, I find that kind of doubtful.

Excluding most of the sequels, imitations and that strange YouTube Culkin himself did about a week ago, Home Alone does remain a deserved classic. It's a bit strange to think that this movie is now 25 years old but it's certainly aged pretty well though and one that no doubt will be watched by many over the Christmas period and possibly more than once too.

Rating: 8 out of 10