Featured Image Credit: 20th Century Studios
Topics: Christmas, Film and TV
Gerrard Kaonga
Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, Christoper Nolan's Dark Knight, and Chris Columbus' Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. What do all three of these films have in common? They are infinitely better than the first films in their series.
Now, I know it sounds like a ludicrous claim that Home Alone 2 is better than the original since the first is a bonafide classic, but hear me out, in the spirit of Christmas.
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One of the biggest issues with sequels is they can’t quite capture the magic of the first film or the premise of the first outing isn’t expanded upon.
But Home Alone 2 does this in spades.
But before we get into that, here is what the film’s synopsis says: “After snarky youth Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) loses track of his father at the airport, he mistakenly gets on a plane headed for New York City -- while the rest of the McCallisters fly to Florida.
“Now alone in the Big Apple, Kevin cons his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel and begins his usual antics.
"But when Kevin discovers that the Sticky Bandits (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) are on the loose, he struggles to stop them from robbing an elderly man's toy store just before Christmas.”
In the first film Kevin was able to showcase his confidence and resourcefulness defending himself from the dreaded and notorious sticky/wet bandits, after being left home alone. Thankfully, he goes even further in the sequel.
On top of this, Joe Pesci’s Harry and Daniel Stern’s Marv show just how brilliant they are at physical comedy a second time around..
And while I absolutely love the scene in the first film when Marv and Harry attempt to break in at the strike of 9pm on Christmas Eve, it pales in comparison to the similar scenario in the second flick.
Seeing someone get hit in the face by a brick multiple times has never been so funny - and if you don't remember the scene I'm talking about, then that's even more reason to watch the second movie rather than the first this Christmas.
But if the unfortunate and explosive situations the criminal duo find themselves at hands of a 10-year-old don’t do it for you, then look to the overall message of the flick - which supersedes the first.
While in the original Home Alone Kevin simply learned not to take his family for granted, in the sequel, thanks to the help of a Piers Morgan-lookalike homeless woman, played by Brenda Fricker, he learns an even greater lesson.
Not only is the importance of family hammered home to Kevin, but he also learns that it is never too late to do a good deed.
As well as this, the message of opening your heart and showing how valued your friends and family are, even when you forget to or scared to do so, is reiterated.
So even if has been a few years, give the 1992 Christmas classic another look...ya filthy animals.