Posted in: Disney, Movies, Review | Tagged: disney, Disney+ Day, Home Alone, Home Sweet Home alone

Home Sweet Home Alone Is One Of The Worst Films Ever Made

Published Fri, 12 Nov 2021 17:57:09 -0600

Home Alone is a classic, and while there have been sequels when Disney announced that they would be releasing a new film in the franchise onto Disney+, skepticism was high. Then when the trailer for Home Sweet Home Alone was released, that quieted down a bit, giving way to a sense of optimism that maybe they would honor the original in a way not seen in even Home Alone 2. Well, that is not the case. This new film is without a doubt one of the worst movies ever made, for a variety of reasons.

Home Sweet Home Alone Is One Of The Worst Films Ever Made — Credit Disney/20th Century Studios

Don Not Watch This, Pretend Home Sweet Home Alone Does Not Exist

This new film in the franchise has one of the stupidest plots in a movie in a long time, one that could unravel if one character says one sentence to each other. When Max (Archie Yates) is left alone by his family when they leave for the holidays in Tokyo, he is "forced" to defend himself and his home from "burglars" (Elle Kemper & Rob Delaney) trying to get an expensive doll they think he stole back so they can sell it on eBay and save their home.

Right off the bat, all of the characters here are terrible. Max is an atrocious little boy, greedy and without an ounce of charm to be found. At no point does he learn a thing about why his behavior is terrible, and Yates was all wrong for this. I loved him in JoJo Rabbitt, but this was a big misfire in casting. Kemper and Delaney are trying so hard, but the script betrays them at every turn. Why they felt the need to give us these two parallel storylines of a kid alone and a couple trying to save their house is a baffling decision. And then to watch them go through what they do, being tortured by this devil child when all they have to do is say, " Hey, we just want our doll back" instead of breaking in, is a maddening experience. Harry and Marv are ACTUAL bad people in the first Home Alone, so we enjoy seeing them get their comeuppance. Not the case here; you just want the madness to stop.

There are, of course, winks and nods to that original film, including a role for the adult Buzz, who is the worst kind of cop now. Kevin now runs a home security business, though we never see him. The musical cues are the most obnoxious reminder that you should be watching the original Home Alone instead of this drivel. They swell during all the same moments they did in Home Alone, yet they make you feel empty because you hate everyone on screen. Weird subplots are created and dropped. And the whole thing feels cheap even though there is a budget being used here. Some of the uncanny valley nature of the obvious CGI shots both of actors and backgrounds is very off-putting and makes you queasy. Even my nine-year-old hated it and begged for it to be turned off.

By the end of what feels like weeks, it feels like it takes to watch this, characters re-enter the film who you haven't seen in some time that you completely forgot about, like Max's father, who at one point you are certain was dead for some reason. This is the kind of empty, soulless cash grab that is unforgivable for a studio to release and an insult to people who pay for Disney+. Avoid it and pretend it does not exist. Our meter doesn't go this low, but consider this a -3/10.

Home Sweet Home Alone