Home Alone 3 (1997)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The situation's the same as Problem Child 3: Third one's funny but not as much as the first 2. The change of characters and setting doesn't bother me. If anything, it's a breath of fresh air (be it as cold as it is). The main character's Alex rather than Kevin which's not a bad choice because Alex's likable maybe even more so than Kevin. The main villains are more competent and threatening yet still bumbling. If there's one thing that didn't make sense it was how Alex's mother kept leaving home alone despite him calling the cops twice and no one believing him.The parrot in this movie is a trip as are the traps. Really, some of them look like they'd be fatal if they were used in real life. One thing that's a welcome addition is the grouchy neighbor who starts out as stern and uptight but gradually reveals her soft spot to Alex after he rescues her from getting tied up in the garage. To sum it all up, the movie's not bad though it's not a classic in any way like the first 2. It's better than the later sequels as they were horrible but that's a story for another review.

Home Alone 3 takes everything that was overblown and cartoonish about the first two and triples the excess in every area. The criminals are arch-villains instead of low rent cat burglars, the booby traps are next level, over elaborate funhouse nightmares instead of the blunt simplicity of paint cans on ropes, and generally the vibe strives for bigger, crazier, more more more. It actually works on its own outlandish terms, with a healthy helping disbelief suspension. The film seems to take place either in some parallel offshoot dimension where the Macaulay Culkin stuff never existed, because let's be real, how many time could such events happen in one country. Either that or they just expect us to believe that this could keep happening to the same family again and again like some hilarious purgatorial curse, which is actually an amazing concept now that I've spelled it out. Anywho, the kid this time is young Alex Linz, whose family has routinely left him home alone, and he has unwittingly come into the possession of a super top secret weapons grade microchip hidden in a toy car. The quartet of criminals searching for it are led to his neighbourhood, and wouldn't you know it, an endless tirade of ultra-violent, slapstick, severely booby trapped shenanigans ensue. The pranks and pratfalls here are seriously convoluted and freakishly well timed, not to mention brutal enough to be borderline horror movie material and so over the top you'd need a team of stuntmen just to get em' on paper. The silly kid even uses a John Deere tractor to set up a giant trampoline/swimming pool snare. Sequels always feel the need to ramp up everything past eleven on the dial though, and this one cranks it til the speakers blow. Surprisingly, the villains are played by a distinctive and competent bunch of character actors, namely Olek Krupa, John Thornton, Lenny Von Dohlen and Rya Kihlstedt, interesting folks who can usually be found in obscure indie fare and off the wall projects. They get pummelled nearly to death here, by everything from electricity, nail guns, turpentine, murderous rogue lawn mowers, firecrackers and one psychotic parrot with attitude to spare. It's one entertaining blitzkrieg though, like the first two Home Alone flicks on crack. Oh, and Scarlett Johansson has an early career role as the kid's sassy sister too.

Despite a script from the legendary John Hughes, this third instalment in the 'Home Alone' series suffers from the law of diminishing returns.Much like the fourth outing that would follow years later, this film tries to replicate the events from the first film, only with a different slant, only for it to plae in comparison to what has gone before.Alex D Linz does well in the lead role, replacing the now too old Mac Culkin, but he, much like the new team of burglars aren't as good as those in the original.It was a nice attempt, but I don't think the public were really ever going to truly buy into this film, as the original was so beloved.

I'm not sure why this movie got such bad reviews. I love it! The character of Kevin couldn't last forever. The acting abilities of the kid in this movie was great. Also, the criminals in this one were much more advanced than the first two movies. It's not my favorite of the Home Alone series, but it's definitely not a terrible movie!