In the past few years, reboots and remakes have skyrocketed in both the box office and television. Kids’ movies such as Aladdin and The Lion King, franchises like Planet of the Apes, and shows like Saved By The Bell and Full House have returned, highlighting our generation’s obsession with nostalgia.
The original Home Alone movies are generally loved. The film is about Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin), a mischievous boy accidentally left home alone by his family while going to Paris for Christmas Vacation. When two con men (Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern) plan to rob the McCallister house, Kevin must protect his home with his unique use of booby traps. With our audience’s fascination with reboots, it’s honestly about time that a new Home Alone reboot came along. Dan Mazer’s Home Sweet Home Alone is the first film in the franchise in almost a decade. This time around, the robbers are a struggling couple. Although a modern spin on the original, Home Sweet Home Alone is another reboot that just didn't need to happen.
Home Alone was released in 1990. The first 2 films were directed by Christopher Columbus and starred Culkin, whereas Home Alone 3 was directed by John Hughes and had a new little boy as the lead, Alex D. Linz (Max Keeble’s Big Move). Two more movies were made with different actors, and the last film in the franchise, Home Alone: The Holiday Heist, was released in 2012. The film didn’t do great, garnering just one score of ⅖ on Rotten Tomatoes. Once the 90s came to a close and the franchise continued, it seemed to miss the mark due to the growing influence that is modern technology. The first films worked because Kevin had to work with what he had, using random items around the house, but if someone were to try to rob a home today, most places would have modern security, and police would arrive within minutes.
Home Sweet Home Alone, the latest reboot in the franchise, was released in November 2021. Unlike the past few films, this movie does take modern technology into perspective. Its shown in small instances, including an over-the-top scene in which one of the robbers is trapped with VR goggles on his eyes. Although modernizing the plot, the movie remains subpar and repetitive, being almost an exact replica of the first film, minus the obvious difference in the antagonists themselves. Because of this, the movie really didn’t need to happen.
The film’s premise is about Max Mercer (Archie Yates), a young boy left alone “accidentally” yet again while his family is in Japan. Instead of being mob partners with ill intentions, the antagonists of this film are struggling married couple Jeff and Pam Mckenzie (Rob Delaney, Ellie Kemper). After Jeff loses his job and is unable to support their two kids, the couple decides that they must sell their home. One day, while having an open house, Max and his mother Carol arrive. Jeff has a quick exchange with Max in which he talks about some old dolls that he has in the basement, specifically one with a mutated head. Carol utters something about dolls with alterations being worth a lot, and they leave. The next morning, desperate to make some money, he tries to hunt down the doll to sell but can’t find it. For some reason, Jeff believes that Max stole it, so he tracks down the Mercer house, finds the house key, and the couple plans their break-in.
The same day, the Mercer family is getting ready for their Japan trip while Max takes a nap in the family car. When he wakes up, he notices that his family is gone. At first, using this opportunity to his advantage, things go south when he hears the couple entering his house. When overhearing the duo talking about stealing “an ugly little boy,” Max has no reason to believe that they are talking about anyone other than himself. Scared for his life, Max must fend for himself and protect his house, with the same Home Alone formula used once again.
Home Sweet Home Alone is missing a lot of the magic that the original had. For one, most of the film’s time is used outside of the house. Most of the movie focuses on the couple’s scheming, which is not what children audiences want from a Home Alone movie. Children wish for those same hilarious moments inside the house of booby traps being made, burglars being tormented, and some good, kid-friendly fun. Why would they want an hour of adults talking?
Also, the film’s talented cast was utterly put to waste. The original movies were focused on precocious and adorable Macaulay Culkin’s character the entire time, yet the new film completely ignores Archie Yate’s character, Max. Yates was a perfect choice for the role, as he is compelling, sweet, and genuinely charming, yet the film doesn’t take their time on him at all. Whereas the original has the audience feeling bad for Kevin right away because he feels so ostracized within his own family, Max does not get the same treatment. He barely gets a backstory, and then the focus is almost entirely devoted to the couple, making it more difficult to root for him.
At the core of it, Home Sweet Home Alone is basically the original to the T with “sympathetic” home invaders instead. They are only robbing the house because they are desperate for money, while the original burglars were crooks for no good reason. Instead of feeling bad for the kid, this film is leaning towards rooting for the burglars instead. The movie has some good kid-friendly jokes and some fun scenes, but it is Archie Yates who saves the day. The dull plot, somewhat forced comedy and overused formula would’ve been even less enjoyable without him.