Nothing jolly about this Christmas-related sequel...

Rating: 5/10 (28 November 2015)

En route to their family vacation in Miami, the McCallisters once again lose track of 10-year-old son Kevin, this time in a rush through the airport; he boards the wrong flight and finds himself in New York City, where he checks into the Plaza using his father's credit card. Sequel to 1990's surprise hit "Home Alone" is once again written and produced by John Hughes, directed by Chris Columbus, and featuring mostly the same cast. Macaulay Culkin eventually runs into his former tormentors, bumbling crooks Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern, who have just busted out of prison, and this where the movie goes into retread mode. Physical slapstick routines that made audiences laugh before are recycled--and damned if viewers don't fall for it all over again. There's obviously something comforting in watching a bright, big-budget sequel to a popular family comedy that covers familiar territory (one can sit back, brain in check, and let the picture do all the work), but Hughes' scripted banter is witless, and new characters such as Tim Curry's inept, leering concierge and Brenda Fricker's Pigeon Lady are oddly lacking in humor and charm. ** from ****