A Worthy Sequel. There's More Going On

Rating: 8/10 (31 December 2012)

Leonard Maltin is wrong. Here's a sequel that almost outshines the first movie. There's a lot more going on in this one. Let's make one thing perfectly clear: The McCallister Family must be filthy rich. They live in a multi-million dollar home and here they go again; jetting off to Florida and then NYC. All the annoying characters are here including cheap Uncle Frank and Buzz. The "wet bandits" Harry and Marv are here too, but this time the action takes place in NYC not Illinois. Also, Marv seems dumber (if that is possible) and Harry is meaner and carries a gun.
There are more memorable characters in this one: Tim Curry and Rob Scheider as the Plaza Hotel manager and bellhop. The pigeon lady. The toy store owner. More scenery too: Rockefeller Plaza and New York City at Christmastime, Carnegie Hall, Central Park. More product "plugs": The Plaza Hotel, American Airlines, The "talkboy" toy recorder. Donald Trump and several other "walk-ons".
The basic plot is similar to the first movie. Again, the family oversleeps and rushes to the airport. Kevin loses his way at the airport and ends up on the wrong plane this time instead of missing it entirely. He is hurried on-board without a ticket check. When the family lands in Florida, mom, once again, spends half the movie trying to find Kevin. He is traced to NYC because he manages to use his dad's "stolen" credit card to stay at The Plaza. This entire storyline is preposterous today with TSA and airline ticket double checks, but it worked in 1992.
So, Kevin is alone again. This time in New York City. He runs into Marv and Harry by accident. They are fugitives from jail. This time, they plan to rob "Duncan's Toy Chest" which is a lot like the F.A.O. Schwartz Toy store, only more magical. Kevin defends the store and takes photos of the robbers, who chase him to a relative's apartment which is in a state of remodeling disrepair. Again, there is no one home.(Marv's skull is so dense that bricks bounce off of it, only leaving minor dents.) Marv wants the camera's negatives, which is impossible-it's a Polaroid Camera! Kevin creates another "Rube Goldberg" style obstacle course for the robbers, which seems a bit more tiresome this time. (We've seen it all before, but I love the blowtorch and exploding toilet.) Kevin tricks them into chasing him into Central Park at night. The robbers are thwarted by an unbelievable combination of pigeon feed, hungry pigeons and slippery ice. Kevin shoots off fireworks, and this signals the police to pick up the bandits. Plot holes: Who would sell such powerful fireworks to an under-age kid? How convenient that all the locations are close to each other (?) Somehow, the entire family finds their way to the Plaza Hotel in New York and Kevin finds his way to Rockefeller Plaza. Everyone is together again on Christmas morning, only this time it's in NYC. Another rousing John Williams musical score. It's a bit long with a running time of 2 hrs.
Other comments: "Fake swearing" so nothing really objectionable. "Talkboy" was an actual Tiger Electronics toy. The comic violence is no worse than a "Looney Tunes" cartoon or The 3 Stooges. It's not sadistic, it's totally unbelievable. A silly and funny sequel. Only John Hughes could imagine such a film.