This article is a follow-up to “Is ‘Home Alone’ a Christmas Movie.”
“Home Alone” has an emphasis on mean spirit over holiday cheer. While this makes it an entertaining ’90s action blockbuster, it fails to incorporate the themes of a Christmas movie. “Home Alone 2: Lost In New York,” on the other hand, has more to offer the genre as a holiday tradition and succeeds at being a Christmas movie where its predecessor fails.
To get the negative out of the way, this movie cannot get the needle to drop right. Songs in movies are meant to communicate something about the scene. In “Home Alone 2,” however, the holiday tunes can feel out of place – regardless of the fact it is a holiday movie. In a scene where Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) goes to the hotel pool, “Jingle Bell Rock” starts to play for no reason. There is nothing in this scene to indicate that it is Christmas time – so the song feels out of place. There are multiple instances of this throughout “Home Alone 2” where holiday hits start to play as a means of forcing a Christmas feeling into a scene where it doesn’t belong.
What “Home Alone 2” does right, however, is the simple fact it takes place in a more “Christmas-coated” location – New York City. Even though snow covers the streets and festive lights line the houses in the first film, that doesn’t automatically tie the look of “Home Alone” to Christmas – it could be November 1 for all the viewer knows. The sequel, however, knows there is nothing more iconic than the Empire State all dressed up for the holidays and uses that to its advantage.
Whether it be sleigh rides in Central Park, Santa walking down Fifth Avenue or the giant Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, Kevin is surrounded by iconography of the season – all of which contribute to making “Home Alone 2” look like a Christmas movie. Aside from the world around the characters celebrating the time of year, the characters themselves are more invested in what Christmas time means.
From the start of its run time, the characters in “Home Alone 2” participate in holiday festivities. The movie kicks off with the McCallister children singing in a Christmas pageant. Even Marv (Daniel Stern) takes part in the fun by ice skating in New York. While these are only small scenes, they show that the characters are invested in what it means to celebrate the time of year.
Another Christmas movie trope “Home Alone 2” manages to get right is the classic holiday character archetype. Akin to Ebenezer Scrooge or the Grinch, Kevin is an unlikable character who becomes a better person through their learning of the true meaning of Christmas. He starts off the movie as a bratty, annoying and cocky child who constantly puts his needs above those of others. Kevin’s selfish inability to listen to his parents while at the airport is the catalyst that allows him to go on a journey where he learns the important values of the season.
Throughout “Home Alone 2,” Kevin interacts with people who impart holiday wisdom that challenges him as a character. When Kevin meets Mr. Duncan (Eddie Bracken), he learns the lore behind turtle doves and how they represent the importance of friendship. Because Kevin takes this lesson to heart, he befriends Pigeon Lady (Brenda Fricker) who tells him, “Good deeds count for extra” on Christmas Eve. This small moment between these two makes Kevin reflect upon all the inconsiderate actions he has taken against his family. Ready to repent for his past wrongs, Kevin decides to complete his character arc the way all holiday heroes do, with a good old fight to save Christmas.
Even though the first film also climaxes with Kevin beating up on Marv and Harry (Joe Pesci), he fights for purely selfish reasons. While this article isn’t saying Kevin should have let the robbers kill him, selfishness is not something to be rewarded on Christmas. “Home Alone 2” fixes this mistake by having Kevin fight for other people. Instead of Kevin being put in a fight-or-die scenario, this time around, he chooses to fight to save Christmas for the less fortunate kids of New York City. The film still ends with all the cartoonish violence fans of the first movie expect, but because Kevin’s actions come from the lessons he learned about what Christmas means, “Home Alone 2” has a true holiday ending that rewards charity and acts of kindness.
A second way the ending is improved in “Home Alone 2” is by it being the last movie in this run of films. While “Home Alone” ends with the McCallisters reunited for Christmas, it rings hollow for two reasons. Firstly, the rest of the family would have gone back for Kevin anyway; the timing simply happened to work out that it coincided with Christmas. Also, since the events of the first film are repeated in the second, the characters cannot and do not learn from their mistakes by the time the credits roll – they do not end the film having learned the true meaning of Christmas.
Because “Home Alone 2” is the final film in the Kevin McCallister “Home Alone” duology, it is able to right some of these wrongs. To be fair, the family doesn’t reunite because of Christmas – once again, the timing just happens to work out. However, because there is no third installment in this series of “Home Alone” movies, when the McCallisters reach the end of the film, they are able to take away the lessons of kindness and holiday cheer. For an added bonus, “Home Alone 2” even ends with a Christmas miracle where the family wakes up to the presents under the tree in their hotel room – a reward for Kevin’s good deeds.
Since “Home Alone 2” actively engages in holiday environments, festivities and themes, it earns the title of “Christmas movie” where the original does not.
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Featured Illustration by Dora Gao/BruinLife.
