Home Sweet Home Alone: Skip This Abomination

Well, I did something I swore I wouldn’t do and watched Home Sweet Home Alone. I had reservations as the last few in the franchise were disappointing but this one took the cake. Being that its getting to the holiday season and I’m mid 100 New Movie Challenge, a short family-friendly film should’ve been just what I needed for a colder night in doors. Let me tell you how much I instantly regretted it.

Look, I know this is supposed to be a lighthearted film that isn’t meant for my age bracket. However, the original Home Alone movies were still a little more edgy. Released back in 1991, Home Alone was considered to be a PG-13 movie and while it didn’t have anything too risque but kept it right in the pocket of being enjoyable for both kids and adults. After the first two movies, they would drop down to a PG and a little bit more kid friendly.

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Now granted, Home Alone was always intended as a kids movie. Just the plot alone, being parent free without rules and boundaries, is relatable to most kids. But the latest movie isn’t even in the same realm. Yes, the kid does get left as the title states, home while his family is away. From there it’s all downhill, the plot goes way off the rails where this kid visits his neighbors house, they think he took something and try to steal it back, and the kid tries to protect his house.

But that doesn’t even happen until the last 1/3 of the movie. Up until that point, the movie sloppily tells a story of the younger child, who fades into the background of a huge family. They tried to make it more modern with the in-home voice assistant similar to Alexa, but they even toned down the buglary aspect and chalked it all to a neighborly misunderstanding.

The reason Home Alone resonates to well as an instant holiday classic is the moral it conveyed. Despite the pain in the butts our family members can be, we still hold them close to our hearts, especially around the holidays. Its relatable, it was fun, and it didn’t seem as forced as the newer movies. True, the classic films get a free pass because they have the rose colored glasses as you’re seeing them for the first time, but that isn’t the lone hangup.

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Home Sweet Home Alone had a decent cast of comedic actors that could’ve made the movie so much better. Too much time is spent in the writer’s room forcing slapstick comedy than building off of what made the original so appealing, the story. Enough of these movies have been made to know that forcing humor doesn’t work. Luckily for studios, they’re low budget and don’t need a huge push to break even. Still, there’s a way to make them kid-friendly but enjoyable for the whole family and they missed it. 3 out of 10.