Released in 1992 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is the follow up to Home Alone. A year after the events of the first film, the McCallisters are going on vacation again, but instead of Kevin behind left home alone, he get’s on the wrong plane, and ends up in New York City. While many claim that this is simply a rehash of the first film with a bad plot, I disagree. I think this is funnier than the first film. I think it is more entertaining. And it is an overall more enjoyable experience for the Holidays. Plus it features Tim Curry, and that alone makes it better than the first film.
I do want to say something about the violence in this film. It is way out of control. The traps and gags that Kevin sets up for Harry and Marv are really pushing the limits of what should be featured in a film that was made for a younger audience. Honestly, the pain and suffering that these characters go through isn’t funny. This film has me laughing all the way through, until Marv starts getting hit by bricks. Harry and Marv would both be dead after what they go through in this film. The only thing keeping them alive is that neither one of them obeys the laws of physics. It’s pretty ridiculous. Other than that, though, I think this is a great Christmas film.
I also would like to discuss the gangster movie that Kevin watches. Gangster “films within the film” were featured in both Home Alones, and both of the films are pretty much the same. Someone apologizes to a mob boss named Johnny, and Johnny acts like he’s going to let them go, and then he shoots them down with his Tommy Gun. Both of the gangster move scenes are hilarious. Some people have even referred to them as “the best gangster films that were never made”. The character Johnny is absolutely insane. He takes great pleasure in gunning people down. His sadism is disturbing. The gangster movie in Home Alone 2 features the character gunning down a female character, which I think is the director trying to push the limits of this movie just a little more. It’s so absurd that it’s funny.
I also want to comment on the tape recorder that Kevin uses. It’s called a Talkboy. The film was released in 1992, but fans wrote so many letters wanting a Talkboy of their own, that Tiger was licensed to produce working replicas of the movie prop. In 1993, along with the VHS tape, parents could buy their kids a working Talkboy from the movie. It happened that my brother asked for a Talkboy for Christmas and my mom got him one. Talkboys could possibly be the worst recording device ever made. It looks really cool in the film. It has the grip that wraps around your hand to hold it in place, the extending microphone, and the ability to speed up and slow down recordings. Everything about it seemed cool. In reality though, the thing was a piece of junk. It was very bulky, and very uncomfortable to hold. There was no way you would carry this around with you, it was too big. Sure you could make your voice sound high or low, by playing the tape fast or slow, but after a few minutes it wasn’t that fun anymore. The thing was designed to be a prop that would show up on camera. In the real world it wasn’t very good. There are a lot of better recording products out there, and I feel bad for all the suckers who ended up with one of these. Who knows, though, maybe a Talkboy in it’s original packaging is worth something, you’d have to look on eBay to find out I guess.