Tragedy and fear on a vaster and yet also intenser scale than the orignal, faced down by the comedy of startlingly emotive child actor, Culkin.

Rating: Null/10 (15 October 2001)

In Home Alone Columbus threw a child, movingly portrayed by prodigy Culkin, in debut role, into a bleak, wintrous world alone. However, it is in the sequel that the story is truly a success. Home Alone Two, far more successfully than the original, depicts a universal reality of loss and fear, and faces it with courage and hope, beautifully juxtaposing comedy against the tragedy of the piece. The success stems from three basic areas. Firstly it is in the repetition and continuity from the original piece. The premiss is the same, child loses family on Christmas, as are the actors, Culkin shining in his lead role, but with Pesci and Stern wonderfully complementing his acting and contrasting the innocence of his role with their own darkness. However, secondly, it is the progression from the orignal that makes it the greater film. The metaphor, of the first film, of the vast emptiness of each of us having to face the outside world ultimately alone is now intensified: the towering buildings of New York represent the huge power of the unknown with the winter becoming harsher, not the twee, wholesome-neighbourhood, warm white of the first film, but now a swirling blizzard against the backdrop of a dark city. Culkin is now out of his element: the fear is increased. Thirdly, it cannot be denied that Culkin's skill as an actor is responsible, to a great extent, for the perfection of the film. Culkin holds the audience in his hands. To watch him is to watch an artist, crafting his masterpiece on the screen. We fear with him, we laugh with him. Columbus gave Culkin a beautiful, simple, universal, and clearly for both he and Culkin, personal, story, and Culkin turned it into his, and Columbus', masterpiece. Home Alone Two deals with eternal issues of our lives on this earth, issues of fear, symbolised by New York in Winter and Stern's and Pesci's bleak characters, and of hope, personified by Culkin. Many may see the film as a bleak and cynical depiction of humanity, but I feel that whilst this film acknowledges the darkness in the world, ultimately through Culkin we are shown that there is hope.