It has been quite apparent that "Home Alone" and it's follow-up has reached the status of holiday classics. Even though "Lost In New York" has flaws, many choose to look past them and praise it as it's still a charming film with the loveable characters that audiences recognize back in 1990. While these films are beloved, the rest of the sequels have been slammed, with the 3rd film being one of the most hated, perhaps due to it being the last film in the franchise released in theatres and written by John Hughes right before his death. Does it really deserve the hate though? Well, the story takes a hit as we are introduced to a brand-new family and protagonist, unrelated to Kevin McCallister. Alex Pruitt is a young boy who is forced to stay home due to the chicken pox. Watching over his neighbourhood, he notices four thieves breaking into nearby houses, to which they leave before the police can catch them. Alex is unaware that these thieves are in fact working for a North Korean terrorist organization looking for a computer chip that Alex himself has in possession of. And, you know the rest. Family is not around to help him out and only Alex can defend his home from the criminals using homemade traps. I never hated the film due to how the McCallister family is written out of the film or the criminals working for North Korea, since it helps be a tad creative. However, the issue is that the story formula is once again the exact same. While the second film did repeat the same formula, the New York setting did at least add some freshness to the story as it feel integrated to the plot. Returning back to Chicago in a random neighbourhood feels boring, outside of the lines of the city being very cold. The formula though wouldn't be so bad if the tone of the film wasn't so childish. Even though the first two films were aimed for families, it still had some mature humour and themes. Not only are the themes not present, since the family has the right to not believe Alex, but the film feels very pandering to kids, with animal sidekicks and all. I won't lie, when I was a kid, I did love watching the film because of these elements, but as I'm older, I find majority of the jokes annoying, though there are a handful of moments that do get a chuckle out of me, mainly during the climax.
Alex Pruitt replaces Kevin McCallister as the protagonist and it's quite clear that he is a downgrade. While the kid playing Alex does a good job, it's just the personality being very flat. Alex is very monotone and not as expressive compared to Macauley Culkin. He also doesn't act much as a child as he doesn't make mistakes or misbehaves, compared to Kevin, who is a troublemaker and learns how to love and accept his family. The other family members are also generic, with the brother and sister being very neutral compared to the mocking older siblings Kevin deals with. The father is barely in the film, due to having to work, and the mother is actually pretty good. She's not as colourful as Catherine O'Hara, but she does care for Alex and loves him, despite she doesn't believe in the criminal activity. Speaking of the criminals, we got four instead of two, who sadly can't match Joe Pesci or Daniel Stern's Harv and Marv. One again, the actors do a fine job and try to get some charisma out of the forgettable group. You got the serious leader, the overly-confident female, and two goofballs that would rather eat junk food and crack jokes. The issue is that because there are four bad guys, we don't have any time to get a lot of personality out of them, which can cause them to act and behave almost as one person compared to the dynamic duo that is Harv and Marv. Mrs. Hess is just a grumpy old woman who is generally pointless as the scary-looking elder, since Alex actually interacted with her prior to the events of the film. I guess I can talk about the mouse and parrot as they are other forms of comic relief. I still find the mouse cute due to the humour that has to be done without any dialogue, but the parrot just doesn't shut up and says bad jokes with a high-pitched, annoying voice, to the point you want to strangle the damn bird! It doesn't help that there are no big name actors that are attached to this film to make people engaged, outside of a very young Scarlett Johansson playing the sister. The characters aren't unlikeable or even terrible, but they can't match the cast in the first two films.
This is the directorial debut of Raja Gosnell, who is infamous for directing mediocre and awful family films such as "Show Dogs" or "The Smurfs". I enjoy his work on the "Scooby-Doo" movies, but I can agree that he has poor taste in projects. The issue with his directing in this particular film though is that it doesn't have a cinematic feel. Despite this film having the largest budget of the sequels, Gosnell makes it feel like the cheapest. Perhaps it's due to the restriction of the neighbourhood and the house being much smaller compared to the McCallister estate, but it feels very contained and low-budget. The lack of colour in the film also makes it a bit unappealing to watch, since it's a lot of greys and interior dullness. To be fair though, the beginning of the film with the criminals does feel professionally made and the climax is handled extremely well, but it's mainly the extended period of Alex stuck in the house spying on the criminals that gives out a lazy, flat directing style. This also applies to the cinematography, which is not terrible, but feels uninspired. John Williams left the franchise, which means that his score would also be absent outside of the main title theme. Despite this, the score is pretty decent with the holiday tunes and spy-thriller beats mixed together. I also like the song that is played when Alex in the night prepares some of his traps, though I hate the song that plays after during the daytime when Alex prepares the more elaborate traps, which also plays in the end credits. Speaking of the traps, they as well as the climax are generally the best part of the film as they are very creative and mostly feel different from the traps made by McCallister in the first two films. True, there are some odd moments of slapstick applied to a trap that would generally kill someone, but that was also seen in "Lost In New York" and no one complains about it now. I like the use of both harmful/disabling traps, as well as traps that are used to distract the criminals to a part of the house. I can stretch my disbelief about Alex setting up these traps or how the criminals are surviving them, because the climax is just too fun to hate in my opinion. It's on par with the previous films on this regard, as it almost feels that the filmmakers and the actors finally get the chance to have fun and put their best efforts into the film, considering the film was leading up entirely to this payoff. It's just a shame that they didn't apply the same energy to the rest of the film. Overall, Gosnell's directing and Hugh's screenplay matches the viewer's thoughts on the film. While it's all fun and games by the climax and traps, it's pretty tedious for all parties for the majority of the film.
So, is the 3rd "Home Alone" really as bad as people say it is? In many ways, it is. The childish tone, the dull setting, a very mixed bag containing good and bad jokes, forgettable cast of characters, and generally flat directing by Raja Gosnell as well as a disappointing script by John Hughes. However, I must bring out the few good elements that can match the quality of the previous films. The score is pretty decent without Williams, there are a few good laughs that are very spread-out in the film, and the climax is generally the best part of the film that puts out as much traps, effort and heart as the first two films. So, it's not really bad, but it is quite mediocre. If you want to watch with kids or just want to see some fun traps being used, it's harmless enough and can get some entertainment out of it. But, if you want something on the same level as the previous two films or even a holiday classic, this is not that film with Christmas even being much more downplayed than usual. It's worth one viewing to make your own opinion.
Verdict: 5/10. Pretty average and bland, though the final act is genuinely pretty good for a Home Alone film.
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