Poor Kevin McCallister. After having been left Home Alone by his parents, just a year later, they did it again – and this time, he’s in New York City! Luckily, he has his dad’s credit cards, making this sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, a bigger budget, more sprawling sequel than the smaller-scaled original. But is Home Alone 2: Lost in New York a worthy follow-up to Chris Columbus’ original Home Alone?
Indeed, Home Alone 2 is a movie that, creatively, doesn’t make a ton of sense. The original was meant to be a one-off. Still, the film was such a colossal money-maker that writer John Hughes and director Chris Columbus wouldn’t dare decline doing a follow-up, as the studio would have done one whether they were involved or not.
Macaulay Culkin became a giant star following the original, with him being the most famous kid actor since the heyday of Shirley Temple. His movies were big grossers, with My Girl another hit over the Christmas of 1991, and when Home Alone 2 opened, everyone assumed the film would make a boatload of money. And, indeed, it did, with the sequel grossing $359 million worldwide. But is the sequel a worthy follow-up to the original? In this episode of John Hughes Revisited, which is written, narrated and edited by Matthew Hacunda, we dig into the making of this big-budget sequel, which saw the return of virtually all of the original cast, including Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. While the traps were more outlandish this time, does the movie have as much charm as the original?
Let us know in the comments if you think Home Alone 2: Lost in New York stands the test of time. Do you think it’s as much of a holiday classic as the original?