An underrated sequel

Rating: 7/10 (16 November 2010)

Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) is the sequel to the worldwide hit comedy film, Home Alone (1990) starring Macaulay Culkin.
Kevin McCallister (Culkin) is left alone again, but this time he gets on the wrong plane which is headed to one of the coolest but is also one of most dangerous cities in America: New York City. As Kevin realizes he is parted from his family again--carrying his dad's wallet as he was looking for batteries for his tape recording device which caused him to get on the wrong flight as he was following a businessman who was wearing the identical coat to his dad's. In a similar fashion to the first film, he spends quite a luxurious (and somewhat of mischievous) vacation as he tours around New York, checks into the Plaza Hotel using his dad's credit card, and even has a hotel-chaffered limo take him to a giant toy store (like any ten year old's ideal dream of a vacation). His fun time is cut short as one of the hotel concierges (played by the hilarious Tim Curry) mistakenly discovers that Kevin was using a "stolen" credit card and chases him out of the hotel. Kevin also encounters the two dim-witted burglars from the first film, Marv and Harry (Played by Daniel Stern and Joe Pesci respectively) who escaped jail and were planning to break-in to the giant toy store Kevin just visited. Back in Florida (where Kevin's family spend a miserable trip as they are watching another foreign language-dubbed TV show), they get a call from the NYPD as they fly over to New York City to look for Kevin. Kevin befriends a lonely pigeon lady (played by Brenda Fricker) in a similar fashion to the scary-looking neighbor from the first film. Kevin once again, decides to foil Marv and Harry's plan by luring them to another booby-trapped house(his uncle's house under renovation). In the end, the burglars are caught and Kevin reconciles with his family once again.
Although this film was financially successful, it received negative critical responses. I would agree with some critics that some of the cartoon-sh slapstick humor was a little too over-the-top; but then again, thats the running gag of the Home Alone films. Despite the unbelievable actions of a ten-year old kid who checks into a fancy hotel, fights off burglars, and scares away the hotel concierge using a gangster film (fast-forwarding the other character's dialog), I still thought that was well done and imaginable for a witty kid like Kevin. Like the first film, it had the moral lesson of not judging people by looks, the importance of family, and the overall gags and jokes that were even better as Kevin is two years older in this film. I would say this film was even better than the first, a staple Christmas classic. If you ever come across the Home Alone series, rent the first two films and you will enjoy those funny laughs that the late John Hughes gave us.