As sequels go, many argue that Home Alone 2: Lost in New York successfully built on its predecessor and, in some ways, improved it by embracing the darker aspects of the original story.
Leaving your child ‘home alone’ once may be forgiven, but leaving them alone a second time at a major international airport and allowing them to travel independently to New York is clearly unforgivable. Following Home Alone with a quick turnaround sequel was never going to be easy for John Hughes and Chris Columbus, especially when the pint-sized star of the first film was now hanging out with Michael Jackson. There is no doubt that the second outing was about maximising profit rather than telling a new story, but that doesnt mean the result is brilliant fun.
As sequels go, many argue that Home Alone 2: Lost in New York successfully built on its predecessor and, in some ways, improved it by embracing the darker aspects of the original story, placing a prepubescent child in an adult cityscape where he learns that money can buy safety at the 1990s-owned Trump Plaza Hotel.
The slapstick humour of the first film is turned up to the maximum in the ensuing story, with the traps becoming sadistic in the hands of a new city-dwelling Kevin (Macaulay Culkin); in fact, young Kevin often seems intent on killing the hapless burglars (Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern). But I guess that’s what a few days in the big smoke does to a child. It may be full of Christmas cheer, but Home Alone 2 – Lost in New York has a far more sinister edge as a city of extremes eats away at a young boy’s mind.
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