Home Alone 2: Lost in New York
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| ♥ | This article is dedicated to John Hughes, who died of a heart attack at the age of 59 (February 18, 1950 - August 6, 2009) |
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 "KEVIN!!! YOU SPENT $967 ON ROOM SERVICE!?!?!"
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Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a 1992 American comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. It is the second film in the Home Alone series and the sequel to the 1990 film Home Alone. Macaulay Culkin reprises his role as Kevin McCallister, while Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern reprise their roles as the Wet Bandits, now known as the Sticky Bandits. Catherine O'Hara and John Heard reprise their roles as Kevin's parents. The new cast includes Tim Curry, Rob Schneider, Dana Ivey, Brenda Fricker, and Eddie Bracken are also featured. Home Alone 3, featuring a new cast of characters, was released in 1997.
Plot
After snarky youth Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) loses track of his father at the airport, he mistakenly gets on a plane headed for New York City -- while the rest of the McCallisters fly to Florida. Now alone in the Big Apple, Kevin cons his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and begins his usual antics. But when Kevin discovers that the Sticky Bandits (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) are on the loose, he struggles to stop them from robbing an elderly man's toy store just before Christmas.
Why It Should Be Found In New York
- Most of the cast members from the first film came back to reprise their roles in this film.
- The idea of Kevin accidentally going to New York and being determined to stop Harry and Marv from robbing a toy store is pretty entertaining.
- Macaulay Culkin still does a great job as Kevin McCallister.
- Harry and Marv are still absolutely hilarious. While these two still screw up their plans anyway, there were moments where Harry was the first to realize how they shouldn't make the same stupid mistakes again when chasing after Kevin and had fun with their finest hour of outsmarting some of Kevin's plans, this is a prime example.
- Tim Curry, Rob Schneider (in one of his early roles), and Dana Ivey have done great performances as hotel employees.
- Perhaps one of the funniest scenes in the movie is when Kevin uses the mob film to trick the hotel staff, especially with how one of the names the gangsters mentions is the name of an employee.
- John Williams' musical score from the first film is used at the beginning again and new music for this film.
- Chris Columbus did a great job of directing this movie.
- The timeless song "Somewhere in My Memory" returns.
- The song "Christmas Star" is as emotional and beautiful as "O Holy Night", though slightly lighthearted.
- The booby traps like from the previous movie, it's still relatable.
- Memorable quotes like "I believe you, but my Tommy gun don't!" and "KEVIN! YOU SPENT $967 ON ROOM SERVICE?!"
- The film permanently ended the Home Alone franchise with the highest note to the franchise as the movie has no sequel bait ending to the franchise.
- "Merry Christmas Ya Filthy Animal! (machine gun noises) And A Happy New Year!"
Qualities That Are Lost In New York
- The film significantly rehashes the plot of its predecessor, resulting in a certain lack of originality.
- Buzz starts a problem by angering Kevin, thus causing problems, and everyone blames Kevin for it while Buzz suffers no consequences.
- Kevin's family (only Buzz and Uncle Frank) is still cruel to him, and even his parents are still neglectful and, of course, they keep on blaming him for everything that's out of his control.
- The family oversleeps and rushes to the airport.
- One of the airport vans runs over a statuette.
- Kevin gets separated from his family after an argument.
- There is a misunderstood old person who looks scary at first but turns out to be quite friendly.
- Kevin uses a black-and-white gangster film to trick others into believing that they're talking to a gunman.
- Kevin plans to outsmart Marv and Harry.
- Kevin watching How The Grinch Stole Christmas.
- Kevin eating ice cream when watching a gangster film.
- Marv and Harry's screwups ensuing.
- Kevin repeats a few lines from the previous film like "I don't think so."
- The mother is the first family to reunite with Kevin after he's been abandoned.
- Kevin gets into trouble at the end.
- Speaking of rehashes, this movie would have prevented itself from rehashing the first film a bit with Buzz being the secondary main protagonist with Kevin alongside. That would have worked, but no one used that idea, let alone miss out on such a great opportunity.
- No Home Alone poster: This is one of the only movies to not have the protagonist scream in the poster, as depicts Kevin acting shocked while reading a newspaper instead.
- Marv and Harry's antics are more hit-or-miss now than in the first movie. They have also become more of a punching bag than before, even if they are still the villains.
- Especially the scene where Marv gets electrocuted and his skeleton briefly shows, which can be a bit creepy sometimes, despite being very hilarious at the same time.
- Although the siblings (except Buzz) and cousins don't torment Kevin unlike in the first film, they have much smaller roles.
- The title might be seen as misleading since, in contrast to the first film where Kevin is left alone at home, the sequel has him alone in New York City. Its original title, "Alone Again," could have been a more appropriate choice, yet it's likely it was altered to make it clearer that it is a follow-up to "Home Alone."
- One could argue that the film's subtitle, "Lost in New York," is fitting for the plot, as Kevin indeed ends up lost in New York.
- The film's conclusion leaves it ambiguous whether the family returns to Chicago.
- Regrettably, the "Home Alone" series experienced a significant decline in quality after this movie, marking it as the final commendable installment of the franchise.
Reception
While Home Alone 2: Lost in New York received mixed reviews from critics, the performances were praised, but criticism was leveled towards its darker tone, use of violence, and similarities to the first film, it received positive reviews from audiences and fans alike and is considered better than the latter four sequels. Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an approval rating of 35% based on 57 reviews, with an average rating of 4.5/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "A change of venue – and more sentimentality and violence – can't obscure the fact that Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a less inspired facsimile of its predecessor.". According to Metacritic, which assigned a weighted average of 46 out of 100 based on 22 critics, the film received "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale.
Like its predecessor, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York has gained a strong cult following.
Trivia
- In the first film, it is mentioned several times that Kevin is 8 years old. In this film, he mentions that he is 10 years old. However, it is mentioned several times that this film only takes place a year after the first one.
- The working title for this sequel was Alone Again.
- Former 45th president of the United States, Donald Trump makes a cameo in this movie. Kevin asks him for directions to the reception office.
- There have been many unofficial follow-ups to this movie starting with Macaulay Culkin, one includes Adult Kevin becoming a psychopath who loves to torture thieves.
External Links
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York at the Internet Movie Database
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York on Rotten Tomatoes
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York on Metacritic
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York on Letterboxd