SYNOPSIS:
After the previous year's shenanigans, Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) is being watched like a hawk by his mother, as the whole McCallister family plans to travel to Miami for Christmas. But at the airport, Kevin accidentally follows the wrong person into a plane bound for New York. Recalling a commercial for a ritzy hotel in New York, Kevin uses his father's credit card to book a room and enjoy a peaceful vacation on his own. But while wandering the streets of New York, he runs into the Wet Bandits (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern), recently escaped from prison and still holding a grudge for the pain and suffering Kevin put them through the previous year...
REVIEW:
This film follows the same formula as the original. But it creates a fun sequel that doesn't feel like a rehash of the original by switching up some details. Instead of being left home, Kevin ends up in New York. Instead of booby-trapping his own house for the bandits, he finds a relative's house that's being renovated and booby-traps it. The scary neighbor who's not what they seem is replaced with a scary homeless bird lady who's not what they seem.
Minute details concerning other films are preserved between these films, like how Kevin watches How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) in both. Or how his family spends their vacation in a hotel room, watching a foreign film that no one can understand. Or the black-and-white mafia film Kevin watches in both, and uses to trick adults. Although this film shows a sequel to the original mafia film. Random trivia: Both mafia films were created specifically for these Home Alone films; they don't really exist. Also, you can see the first mafia film playing in Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019).
Like its predecessor, the first two-thirds of the film are spent exploring Kevin's predicament; first in his enjoyment of being adult-free and what he can get away with, then his realization of how lonely he is and how much he misses his family. The final third is spent dealing with the bandits and all the cartoony traps they encounter while trying to capture Kevin.
One brilliant addition is Tim Curry as the hotel concierge, who really hams it up throughout the film. He plays a wonderful villain, who is suspicious of Kevin from the moment he shows up alone in the hotel. Honestly, he really steals the show! I miss Tim Curry; I hope he's doing better now.
Also, there's a brief cameo of Donald Trump at the hotel! I had totally forgotten about this scene.
RECOMMENDATION:
In an era when sequels were just cheap cash-grabs by studios and had no effort put in to them, Home Alone 2 stood out as a quality sequel. It added to the world of Kevin McCallister while keeping up the excitement and flow from the previous film. Even with a lot of parallels to the original film, you were still on the edge of your seat, waiting to see how it plays out. I'd highly recommend this film!
However... I would NOT recommend the three other sequels that followed. THOSE were cash-grab sequels and not worth seeing.
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