‘HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Kevin At New York Alone
The first time I saw ‘Home Alone 2: Lost In New York’ was on TV. I never saw the film on VHS I don’t think. Or maybe I have, I can’t remember. Anyway, my parents and I never owned it on VHS or DVD.
After seeing ‘Home Alone’ at our local Showcase Cinema in Nantgarw in 2017, my Mum and I saw ‘Home Alone 2’ on the big screen in 2018. This was again at our local Showcase Cinema in Nantgarw.
And it was for a limited re-release. I’m pleased we saw the two ‘Home Alone’ movies in a row at the cinema in 2017 and 2018. Seeing the two films got me to realise they were authentic ‘Home Alone’s.
‘Home Alone 2’ is of course the sequel to the first ‘Home Alone’ movie from producer/writer John Hughes and director Chris Columbus. It was shown in 1992 at around Christmas time. I wasn’t familiar with the second ‘Home Alone’ movie as with the first movie.
And to be honest, the first film is better than the second. That’s not to say ‘Home Alone 2’ is awful. Oh no! I found it to be an entertaining film. But still, ‘Home Alone 2’ does not have that same magic.
‘Home Alone 2’ is merely a retread of the first ‘Home Alone’ film, using the same comedy and plot despite it mostly set in New York. Even from the opening credits, the second film felt like a rehash. 🙂
My cinema experience of the film was also different compared to seeing the first ‘Home Alone’ movie. The screen room was not that well-attended compared to the first film, which is a big shame.
The central heating wasn’t working either. It was freezing cold in the screen room. This happened with a cinema experience my parents and I had of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ in 2017. Still said in English! 😀
The second film sees Macaulay Culkin return to the role of Kevin McCallister from the first movie. I know people say Macaulay Culkin’s performance isn’t as good in the first film, but honestly he’s fine.
In this film, Kevin’s family take a holiday trip to Florida. But Kevin catches the wrong plane and ends up in New York. At first, Kevin enjoys the pleasures of luxury at the Plaza Hotel he stays at in the city.
This is before Kevin misses his family. Very soon, Kevin is out on the streets before he decides to stop the two crooks, Harry and Marv, attempting to steal a children’s department store in New York.
Yes! ‘Home Alone 2’ sees the return of Joe Pesci as Harry and Daniel Stern as Marv. They’re still at it with bumbling banter and it was fun to see them again and get softened up by Kevin once they start stealing.
I don’t know if it’s me, but the traps set by Kevin for Harry and Marv in this film are more violent than the first. This is especially once Kevin starts throwing bricks at Harry. Ouch!!! That’s got to hurt!
There’s also the return of Catherine O’Hara as Kate and John Heard as Peter, Kevin’s parents. I did feel like things were being repeated again with Kevin’s mom trying to find Kevin in New York City. 😀
There are also some special cast members featured in this film. There’s Tim Curry as Mr. Hector, the concierge. I’ve seen Tim Curry in ‘Muppet Treasure Island’. I found him funny as Mr. Hector in this. 🙂
Despite the first film being superior to the second, there are some laugh-out-loud moments I enjoyed from the second movie. This includes many humorous moments with Tim Curry’s character.
The film also features Rob Schneider as Cedric, the bellhop and Brenda Fricker as the Pigeon Lady. The Pigeon Lady doesn’t get a name?! She’s also a similar character to the old man in the first movie. There’s also Eddie Bracken as Mr. Duncan, the proprietor of the Duncan’s Toy Chest store.
There’s also a special guest cameo of…Donald Trump? What?! I had no idea Donald Trump was an actor as well as a hotel owner and a president. His ‘Home Alone 2’ cameo is the best thing he did! 😀
‘Home Alone 2’ even features ‘Angels with Even Filthier Souls’, a sequel to ‘Angels with Filthy Souls’ from the first film. That sequel isn’t good as the first one, but it was still fun and entertaining indeed.
Once again, the film’s music is composed by John Williams. There are repeats of musical cues from the first film in the second film. There’s also three carols performed at the Carnegie Hall for this film.
‘Home Alone 2: Lost In New York’ is very entertaining and a harmless sequel to the first ‘Home Alone’ movie. It’s clearly a rehash of the first movie where it reuses the same comedy throughout. 🙂
But I can’t deny having a soft spot for this movie. I especially enjoyed watching it whilst I was growing up. I’m happy I saw it on the big screen in 2018 as well as in the double pack DVD in 2019. 🙂
The DVD special features are as follows. On its original 2000 DVD, there are trailers for ‘Home Alone’, ‘Home Alone 2: Lost In New York’ and ‘Home Alone 3’. This is rather disappointing. I know ‘Home Alone 2’ wasn’t a great movie, but why didn’t it get much attention as the first ‘Home Alone’? There aren’t any DVD special features for the ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Home Alone 2’ double pack DVD.
I greatly enjoyed ‘Home Alone’ and ‘Home Alone 2’ in its double DVD pack. My parents and I especially enjoyed watching the films back to back with a Domino’s pizza meal. The first film is better than the second film, but I still regard both movies highly, especially in comparing to later sequels. 🙂
‘Home Alone 2: Lost In New York’ rating – 8/10
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