Home Alone 3

This is NOT part 3 of "Kevin's Adventures", but rather a brand new "home Alone" situation. The setting is still suburban Chicago during the Christmas season, the family is still "upper middle class", and even the theme music is very similar to the predecessors. This time, however, the "kid" is NOT abandoned by his entire family who took off for their Christmas Vacation. This time our pint sized hero is left unattended only for hours at a time, while he is at home and sick with the measles. A gang of foreign spys is after a top secret multi-million dollar computer chip stolen from the US Air Force. Of course, they hide it in a battery-operated toy that ends up with "the kid".

Although the "boobie trap" routine could be viewed as just another rip-off from the first two films, the "gags" seem a bit more sophisticated and less forced in "3". The mere fact that our hero is not dealing with "wet bandit idiots" this time around makes the whole show less of a "kiddie circus". The third running is also leaving out the mushy side plots which would've gotten tiresome by now. All in all this is a fun show for the whole family. I showed this film to my 4th grade class and they gave it 20 thumbs up. Not for the "grown-up" comedy critic, but definitely a winner with kids.

Everybody says this movie sucks...i don't think that at all. We can't have kevin forever...he's gotta grow up at some point. That's why it was good to go with a new family that would keep the spirit of home alone alive...remember it's for the kids. plus the bad guys were more advanced then marv & harry (not saying that i didn't like marv & harry) but these guys had high-tec equitment that was pretty cool. This movie was new,fresh,well acted & had good direction. (RAJA GOSNEL)

WAY-TO-GO JOHN HUGHES!!!!

Four high-tech industrial spies are trying to smuggle out a top secret military microchip to North Korea. A mixup at airport security leaves Mrs. Hess with the microchip hidden in a remote control car. After Alex shovels Mrs. Hesses' driveway, she gives him the car as payment. The spies have tracked the chip to Alex's neighborhood, and faces off against Alex who is home sick with the chicken pox.

I like the cat and mouse game, but the premise is way too serious. It's not so kid friendly to start. But this is not a horrible sequel. The fact is the kid isn't Macaulay. And the movie doesn't have as much whimsy as the previous two. The bad guys are real bad guys, not the silly Wet Bandits.

For those of us who want to see Scarlett Johansson, she has a minor role as the sister. It's nothing special to write home about. She does have a few scenes.

Precocious youngster Linz—a target of torment for his older siblings and uptight next door neighbor—is stuck at home with the dreaded chicken pox. He stumbles upon a top secret computer chip that makes him the target of four, high-precision international spies determined to re-obtain it, but the feisty youngster is determined to defend his home at all costs. The whole thing is pretty formulaic, but smarter crooks, an appealing cast, and a surprising amount of unexpected laughs help overcome the script's familiarity and wild leaps of logic. Not very original, but there are more than enough good gags and amusing situations to make it worth a look. **½

I don't think the film is as bad as the rating suggests, but it does pale in comparison to the first two films, which are holiday classics to me! There were some bits I liked, but some bits where improvements would have been appreciated.

The positives are that Alex D Linz makes a cute and charming lead, though Macaulay Culkin is definitely better. The film does look lovely, and there is evidence of some detailed direction. And the parrot was awesome. Believe me, this film is much better than the vomitous Home Alone 4.

The negatives are that some of the violence, that was classic in the first two films, seemed to have been reduced to cartoon slapstick. Another problem was that I didn't recognise any of the characters, and the uneven script didn't allow them to develop properly. Also, I do miss the antics of the Wet Bandits, the new villains weren't as effective.

All in all, a perfectly adequate, but uneven film, that is much better than its abysmal follow up. 5/10 Bethany Cox