Hi, guys, I’m back with another Christmas movie review. Today, I am going to give you my overview of the Home Alone franchise. Now, I am not going to go into a lot of detail with the films, because this would probably take up all the space on my home page, but I just wanted to give you my own opinion on each Home Alone films in the franchise, even the repulsive abomination Home Alone 4. So grab your stocking cap and you bag of peppermint sticks, because this is a very special Home-Alone-A-Thon. Enjoy!
The first Home Alone film was released in 1990, 4 years before I was born. I first saw the movie when I was around 5 or 6 years old, and I was blown away. It was so funny and so clever, I couldn’t get enough of it. I watched it even after Christmas. As I watched it throughout the years, Home Alone slowly became one of my favorite movies of all time. I just went head over heals with the cheesy acting, the boobie traps Kevin sets up to stop the bad guys, and the theme of the story, that being with family and friends during the holidays is the most important thing of all. The acting in this film is just wonderful.Macaulay Culkin is spot on for Kevin, I don’t think any kid could pull it off like he did. My favorite line from the film is when Kevin says “When I get married, I’m living alone!” And who can forget that classic scene where Kevin screams, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! To this day, it is still one of my favorite quotes. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are also perfect as Harry and Marv. The things that Kevin does to them are hilarious.
I always loved the part where Kevin cuts the rope when the robbers are climbing across to his treehouse, and they yell that yell that only Harry and Marv can pull off. Though the film is incredible, it still has it’s flaws. The part where Kevin climbs on his brothers shelves and breaks them is a questionable scene. Kevin doesn’t even bother cleaning them up, nor go looking for his brother’s tarantula that got loose during the chaos. I also find it odd that Kevin doesn’t even bother returning the toothbrush he stoled from a store (Is this toothbrush approved by the American Dental Association?) But no matter what is wrong with this film, Home Alone is one of the greatest holiday classics of all time. It teaches us that through honesty and caring, that anything in this world is possible, even if it means giving up the things we want most.
Home Alone 2: Lost in New Year is perhaps my favorite of the series. Kevin isn’t home along this time though, he is lost in New York after getting on the wrong plane, and this time, he is getting into a lot more mischief than before. What I always liked about this one this that it had a lot more layering to it. Kevin has a lot more freedom than he did in the first film, and has some assisting from an old bird woman. I also loved how this film had more locations than the first. I always loved the whimsicalness and charm of Duncan’s Toy Chest and the broken warehouse of Kevin’s uncle’s house. There are also more traps, more cheesy dialogue and more charm than the first. I love the part when the bird woman dumps bird seeds all over Marv and Harry and the bird fly in and start eating off them. I just love the way Marv screams, it always cracks me up. Overall, it’s a wonderful, charming little film that always gets me into the holiday spirit. Unlike the first one, it’s about helping others and making friends, and sharing the joy of Christmas with all people. It’s also a great way to show the glory and beauty of New York around the holidays.
Home Alone 3 is not that bad in my opinion, I don’t know why people put it down the way they do. Surely it’s much, much different than the first 2, but it’s not that bad of a film. This time around, they decided to do something different. Instead of Kevin, there is a kid named Alex, and instead of Harry and Marv, there are four guys and a girl. This movie takes place after Christmas, how ironic, and unlike the other films, the robbers have a purpose for robbing houses. They are looking for a computer chip that just happens to be in little Alex’s toy car. By the way, the kid playing Alex is in fact named Alex in real life. You may know him from films like Max Keeble’s Big Move. Anyway, the story is actually quite solid and thought out, and has a creamy chocolate center like the others. The traps in these films are also very unique and creative as well. One of the traps I especially like from the film is the lawn mower that comes down on the guys head and gives him a bad haircut.
And this film, the kid is not left home alone because of the parent’s mistakes. He is sick with the chicken pox and his caring mother goes off to work, leaving him home alone. And for a kid his age, it is odd that he can work large machines and work with electrical wires. That’s what makes me wonder, how are small children like Kevin and Alex able to build the booby traps to torture the robbers. But we all know that it all adds to the charm of each film. There is also, like in the others, the person in the film that is at first viewed as the enemy, but redeemed by the end of the film. In the first film, it is the old man, in the second film, it’s the bird woman, and in this one, it’s the cranky neighbor Mrs. Hess. Overall, it’s a pretty good film. I just wish I could wash away the filth in other’s eyes, making them put this film down with dismay. It’s not at all bad, it’s just viewed as bad.
And yes, there is Home Alone 4. If you look at the DVD cover for the film, it says Home Alone 4: Taking Back The House. This is one of those films I can’t realy explain that well. It’s so awkward and dull, it’s more like a home movie than part of the Home Alone franchise. It barely qualifies as a motion picture. But hey, others people have already described their hatred for this film, but I will just take it easy on the film, because like it is billed, it is a Home Alone film, but not in anyway the best film of the series. I will start out by saying that this film is more like a reboot to the series rather than a sequel. It is not in anyways a follow up to the first two films, and is not part of the initial Home Alone timeline. Kevin’s parents are divorced, and unlike the classic first two, there are not that many people living in their house. Kevin doesn’t even have as many brothers and sisters as he did in the first film. The ages of most of the characters have also been reduced. And perhaps the worst thing in this film is that Harry, played by Joe Pesci, is no more. Instead, Marv is accompanied by a stuck-up broad named Verra. And what’s up with Marv in this film, he looks more like Harry from the first two films.
There are also very little humor and entertainment in this film. There isn’t even many traps in this film, just the characters in this film running around like a bunch of loonies. Kevin is not near funny and clever as he was in the first two films, and the overall feeling and charm that was present in those films is no more. As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I think I know what happened. They waited until the last minute to make this piece of crap, so they just slapped it together like some preschool play. They didn’t work on the story, they didn’t write the characters like they should have been written, and it seems as if they just made this film in a matter of days. It looks as if somebody just shot the entire thing with a cheap camcorder. It was given no effort, no correct story, and the final result really shows. If I could go back in time, I would do this movie over, the way it’s supposed to be. I would bring back Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and all the others, write the story with pride and make the film the right way, because in the end, this film is just nothing more than a cheap, careless mistake that some lazy people just thought of.
Well, that’s my review of all the Home Alone films. I hope you enjoyed, and I will be back to do more Christmas films in the near future.
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