For the longest time, ‘Home Alone 3’ was my favourite ‘Home Alone’ movie…I realise that may raise the blood pressure of some readers, but I have no regrets about this decision. I was younger, less film literate and loved a good ‘Hit in the Butt/Crotch’ joke as much as the next person.

As with the first two films, it has to have been AT LEAST 15 years since I last saw this one, and…as I continue to get older, my enthsiasm for this entry *is* starting to cool a little. I dont think its *quite* as good as the first two films…But it definitely has a lot going in it’s favour!

Starting with the plot! Which actually breaks with tradition (with the first being a straight ‘burglars V kid’ home invasion pic, and the 2nd basically being a higher budgeted, more polished run through of the 1st again) Here? We’re introduce to ‘Alex’ a new kid and a bit of a tech whizz.

Alex is the youngest child of 3 in a family household that seemingly never stops. His mum and dad work full time and his siblings are all of school age and have their various ‘things’ going on. When Alex comes down with a case of Chicken Pox, his family find enough time to make him comfortable, but arnt able to stay with him through the day to ensure his recovery…So! they set him up a TV in his bedroom, and a contact list of who to call in case of an emergency…Only this time, he may need a better contact than the little old lady across the street!

As a group of hired agents are put on a job by the korean mafia to steal a US Airforce computer chip that could put the Koreans ahead in an arms race. They’ve hidden the chip in a remote control car, only…At the airport theres a mix up at baggage and Alex’s neighbour ends up taking the car home instead of her luggage. She gifts the car to Alex in exchange for an *attempt* at clearing out a driveway…the agents figure this out and start systematically working through the neighbourhood houses looking for the car…And Alex clocks on to this at the EXACT same time that the agents realise which house its in…Hilariaty and slapstick shenanigans unfold.

And honestly? Im a bit confused as to exactly what fans of ‘Home Alone’ really wanted from the franchise after ‘Lost in New York’ Leaving ‘Kevin’ at home once was bad, twice was awful. They couldnt have done it a 3rd time without it being an outright parody of itself (something ‘Lost in New York’ came dangerously close to at times) Equally; just doing ‘burglars’ again after the last 2 films both did burglars…and did them so well!..well; It’d be setting itself up for a direct comparison right out of the gate for sure!

So! they shook things up a bit, hired agents on a mission is a bit of a stretch on reality admittedly…But not a completely unreasonable one, I actually really appreciated that they took the story in a bit of a different direction for most of the runtime because I think it would have been flogging a dead horse to rerun it all again.

The script’s pretty tight, at an hour and 42 minutes long it’s maybe a *smidge* longer than I would have liked…But feels pretty nippy all the same, the tone here is now basically a ‘Family comedy’ which I DO feel is probably this films biggest issue. It’s written by John Hughes…and I can ABSOLUTELY see moments in this where, had Hughes directed it too, it would have had that schmaltzy heartwarming goodness that the first two had. But here, thats played down in favour of a stronger comedy element and a heavier emphasis on the period this film was made (the late 90s were ‘radical’…’dude.’)

In a way, im glad they picked a lane, because juggling the two, in the past, has kind of made it a bit harder to really clarify what the film is trying to be….But at the same time, I cant deny that the usual Hughes ‘heart’ just wasnt in this one…or at least wasnt as strongly imprinted as with his previous work.

The characters too are a little bit of a mixed bag, I actually prefer ‘Alex’ as a character over ‘Kevin’, in the first film I found ‘Kevin’ to be a bit one note, he sort of…swung between being a border obnoxious kid and being sad…in the second film he’s basically all overly polished charisma and very little else…’Alex’ by contrast feels like a kid, he feels like a complex character who gets a good range of emotions to work through across the films runtime as he tries to warn the grown ups about the incoming danger. Then takes matters into his own hands when they ignore him. ‘Alex’ feels like a kid in control of the narrative and I saw the appeal in placing the kid as the story maker both as a kid and even now. While this film may be missing the ‘Hughes’ heart, it does pull a lot of that energy back into the frame with ‘Alex’ as a character.

The other characters however…are all about on the same par as ‘Harry and Marv’ were in the originals…just less charismatic. Which sounds like a problem at first…But actually isnt terrible. they’re all a bit one note, most of them seem annoyed by Alex simply existing…But non of them are irritating and most of them (across the runtime) do get a bit of a character arc to work with which is nice.

Of course, one of the main reasons to watch a ‘Home Alone’ movie is the booby traps that litter the 3rd act. Its a bit of a come down after ‘Lost in New York’ (a film in which Kevin pretty much obliterates a 3-4 story New York town house) But quality wise? I’d actually put the traps ahead of ‘Home Alone’ in terms of quality. With the ‘Fake Swimming Pool’ and the ‘mega blocks roller skates’ being two of my favourites.

What is a bit dissapointing however is they do repeat a few jokes (the electrocution gags are basically the same from ‘Lost in New York’ and the scene where a guy gets hit in the crotch because theres a mouse there is basically Marv with the tarantula from the original) and there are a couple that DO fall a little flat for me personally…But I’d definitely say theres more hit than miss here for me.

The directions pretty nice, again I kind of wish Hughes had picked this one up, just to help it keep in line with the other two films. But Raja Gosnell does a fine enough job here, Stepping up from Editing ‘Home Alone 2’ to full on directing this one (this was their first directing credit, and they’d go on to direct ‘Big Mamas House’ and the two live action ‘Scooby Doo’ movies)

Its a solid creative base, it maybe lacks the flare that Hughes could have brought to the production, and its a little slower paced than I’d have liked personally. But, its clear, compitent, it has moments where it really shines. Direction of the cast too is, actually in my opinion, stronger than the first two home alone films. I think the cast are stronger actors (Burglars aside) and to me, it feels like a lot of clear communication was had on set as to exactly what was needed from them.

The cines fine enough too…it’s a studio pic, so at minimum everythings going to be shot relatively coherently, and edited fairly tightly. I absolutely feel they could have done more to give this film a bit more personality, especially compared to previous entries. But whats here is more than fine enough and it has quite a few iconic moments to boot!

The edits tight, with well crafted sequences that use a decent amout of Broll and do get to experiement here and there. I do feel one more pass through just to get it under an hour and 40 probably would have *just* pushed it a little bit higher quality wise for me…But thats a nitpick honestly.

Cast wise, while I wont comment on the child actors, I thought the agents were all decently charismatic, with a great physical presence that managed to raise at least a couple laughs on that alone, the rest of the cast are naturalistic, fluid with their line deliveries and blend into the comedy elements almost seamlessly, which was really a delight to see.

‘Home Alone 3’ absolutely isnt as iconic as the first 2 films, a drop in budget and Hugheses departure from the directing chair has left a noticeable change on the franchise. But just because something isnt ‘iconic’ doesnt mean it cant be ‘good’ or ‘enjoyable’ and I really quite enjoyed ‘Home Alone 3’ It has a charm and tone that appeal in different ways than the first 2 movies, it looks good, sounds good and plays out about as well as a film 3 entries into a series could play out. I never really got the hate for this one honestly. That being said, this is probably about as far into the ‘Home Alone’ films as i’d be willing to go, as having seen ‘Home Alone 4’ many MANY years ago. It was a viewing experience I wouldnt wanna repeat. Stick with the first 3 though, and you cant go far wrong!

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/home-alone-3/