Home Sweet Home Alone - Review

Growing up in the 90s, Home Alone quickly became a favourite movie, it offered up a funny movie and every kids dream of doing anything they wanted. The movies sequel was just as fun, though it was a little darker at times, but when they kept the series going with Home Alone 3, things started to lose their appeal, it was a fine movie, just not as good as the first two. The less we say above Home Alone 4 the better and we will ignore the horror that was the fifth attempt at a movie, so when Disney announced that they were doing a new movie, I was worried, having seen it though, was I right to be?

For those who thought this was a remake of the original, you can breathe a sigh of relief as this is a new movie, but it is connected to those original two movies. This one has Max Mercer as the child left alone, but rather than a pair of bumbling thieves trying to get rich quick, the reason why Max must defend his house is a little more relevant. A local family is struggling with life after the dad is let go from his job and while hosting an open house, Max and his mother fake interest in buying it, in order to allow Max to use a toilet. When Max comes face to face with the father, the sarcastic nature of both characters leads to them butting heads, as one would expect, but it does also insert the McGuffin into the plot.

Max gets left alone, when his chaotic family are all taking over the house and he absconds to the car, because this is a modern Home Alone, the car has a tv that he can watch, but as he falls asleep within and the chaos of modern airplane travel causes the family to be split, the rush is what allows him to be left behind. While Max is living the dream of eating junk food, watching movies and being a little Tony Montana, the family have realised that they owned a collectable that could solve their financial issues, the problem it has vanished and the last time it was seen, was when Max was there. In a rush to reclaim it, the dad races over when the family is leaving and discovers a way in, thinking it would be a simple job to reclaim it, he tries and fails. While he is keen on retrieving the item, the mother is not as keen, but eventually the pair come to a realisation that this is all they can do and after their first attempt fails completely, Max realises he has to protect his house.

If you have seen any Home Alone movies, then you are going to see what you expect, but unlike the originals which were more physical withs strings and trains, this one is more using modern toys, like Lego and Nerf guns. While the main heart of the movie is more about loving the people you are with, there are still plenty of laughs to be had, especially with some of the traps that are created within the house. Much like the original two movies, this one is also set during the holidays, meaning there is a lot of snow and ice, something used to great effect. I won’t spoil any of them, or how the ending of the movie plays out, but it actually took a turn that I wasn’t expecting and found myself really happy with how it did play out.

On the cast side of the equation, there is a solid main cast present, along with a rich supporting cast, the main three characters are played by Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Ellie Kemper, Rob Delaney who played the average Peter in Deadpool 2 and finally Max is played by Archie Yates, Yorki in the critically acclaimed JoJo Rabbit. While Max is the lead of the movie, Archie still has that child actor issue of being a little forced with delivery, especially when they make the character say lines from the original movies. Ellie and Rob have a fun dynamic that is only made even more amusing when they start to become victims to Max’s chaos, but even then, they still manage to have some tender moments. The supporting cast is a bit of a whose who of actors, with Kenan Thompson, Tim Simons, Ally Maki and Chris Parnell and while most of them don’t really have a lot to do in the movie, they manage to deliver some fun with their limited time. The only real connection to the original movies is when Devin Ratray pops up as Officer Buzz McCallister, brother of Kevin who has seemingly created a home security system that is installed in homes.

While there are times when the movies feels like something that you might see on daytime tv, as a midday release, there are moments when it elevates itself to something more, providing some tender and comedic moments. There is not a lot of time between Max being left alone and his eventual reunion with his family, something that the original movies did played with a lot, so it does come off as rushed, but there is still fun to be had. The links back to the original movies are fun, though there is one really cringe worthy moment towards the middle of it, if you are someone who like me, thinks about watching the originals every Christmas, this one can easily be added to the rotation. It may not exceed the originals, but it does add to them, while still being its own thing.

The Score

8.0

Review access provided by Disney

The Pros

+Some good laughs and maybe truly diabolical traps

+An ending twist that I didn’t expect to see and was a welcome surprise

The Cons

-From start to finish, everything feels like it only happens over a few days

-A few forced moments stand out a little as forced, which takes away from the moments