Home Alone: The Holiday Heist (also known as Home Alone 5: The Holiday Heist or Home Alone 5) is a 2012 American made-for-television Christmas comedy film and is the fifth installment in the Home Alone franchise and the second and final to be made-for-TV. It stars Christian Martyn, Jodelle Ferland, Malcolm McDowell, Debi Mazar, and Eddie Steeples.
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 Yep, they kept making Home Alone films, even despite how awful the previous film was already.
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Plot
With his parents away, an 10-year-old (Christian Martyn) engages in a battle of wits with some thieves (Malcolm McDowell, Debi Mazar, Eddie Steeples).
Why It's a Holiday Heist (And Not The Good Kind)
- It does not have anything to improve over the last two films.
- It shares many of the same problems (if not repeated) from Home Alone 3.
- Like the third movie, Kevin and family don't appear or he mentioned here. Not even Alex (the protagonist of the third movie) and his family are mentioned as well.
- The villains are very weak.
- The story and villains' motivation are very ridiculous.
- It's also pretty much a cheap rehash of the original movie.
- Has barely anything in common with any of the previous movies.
- Poor and generic acting, with nonsensical dialogue.
- Blatant product placement such as the Xbox 360, although it is nothing compared to the product placement in Home Sweet Home Alone.
- Most of the movie doesn't feel like a sequel at all. Instead, it feels like another generic Disney Channel movie or a pilot episode for TV series.
- The traps are very boring because they are rehashed from the previous films and the new traps are stupid, like the trap where the leader gets scared by ghosts.
- The characters in this film are generally unlikable and stereotypcial, such
- Finn is unlikable when comparing him to Kevin, or even Alex, he does almost nothing, but play video games, although he gets slightly better later on.
- Finn's older sister, Alexis is also unlikable, and is the generically clichéd bossy older sister stereotype that has been done to death in tons and TONS of media.
- On top of that, Finn and Alexis are always on their technology, and it's so boring and unbearable to watch them do little interesting things.
- Finn and Alexis' parents are by far the worst characters in this film, as they are very stern and rather short-tempered throughout the entire film, as well as acting neglectful to their own children, especially comparing with Kevin's mother, and even Alex's mother. They also accuse a gamer of spying on Finn, when he was really trying to save Finn's life from the burglars.
- Speaking of which, the burglars seem to have no chemistry between each other, and not to mention, they are just generic villains that are very stereotypical (read more at WIAHH (Iabw) #9).
- Generic villains: The leader, Sinclair, is just an evil version of Old Man Marley, who is very stereotypical, Hughes doesn't have much of a personality and strangely looks a lot like Snoop Dogg, and Jessica is just a rehash of Alice, one of the burglars from the third movie, but much more clueless and dumber.
- The ending is a rehash of the third movie's ending, where the villains get mugshots.
- Some scenes rehash the first movie, which makes this movie feel more like a parody than an actual film.
- Misleading Title: Despite being titled: "Home Alone", Finn is never left alone at home, as he is with Alexis, similar to Kevin never being alone in Home Alone 4.
Redeeming Qualities
- It definitely seems to improve many of the mistakes that the previous film had, though sadly, it isn't much better.
- Decent remix of the Home Alone theme.
- There are a few scenes that can be considered amusing.
- The ending is a bit heartwarming, despite the final part rehashing the third movie.
- Finn does get slightly better at the end.
- Malcolm McDowell gives a decent performance and is the decent villain, despite being generic, like all of the other villains in this film.
- Depending on your view, it is the first Home Alone film to not take place in Chicago, as it takes place in Maine, which actually does something new instead of using the same generic location for the Home Alone films.
Trivia
- It is the first film in the loosely connected Home Alone series not to include a setting in Chicago, as it takes place somewhere in Maine.
- Like Home Alone 3, this one doesn't have Kevin McCallister as the main character. Also like Home Alone 4, the main character is not left home "alone", but with his older sibling.
- Only film in the series not to feature a character who the main protagonist initially fears and then befriends by the end.
- Debi Mazar previously appeared with Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. Pesci played Harry in the first two films.
- Only film in the series to feature an African-American villain. (Not counting the In Living Color season 3 segment Home Alone Again).
- This film has the same rotten tomatoes like Home Alone 3 which holds 29% Rotten Tomatoes.
Reception
Home Alone 5 received mainly negative reviews, although it fared better than its predecessor. Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media awarded the film 2 out of 5 stars, writing that although the film was a "predictable slapstick comedy", it "still delivers the laughs".
It has a 3.5/10 on IMDb
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