Home Alone 3 (1997)

   Though I was prepared and, perhaps, even hoping for something far,
far, *far* worse, the year's most dreaded sequel, HOME ALONE 3, is sur-
prisingly inoffensive.  Series writer/producer John Hughes has reworked
the wish-fulfillment franchise into an agreeable (albeit juvenile) var-
iation on the Boy Who Cried Wolf.  Alex D. Linz (ONE FINE DAY) is the
new kid on the block, with a new family and a new predicament:  he's
home alone with the Pox, has unwitting possession of a military micro-
chip, and is increasingly disbelieved by both his parents and the
police, each time he reports a burglar in a different neighboring home.
So what's a kid to do, when a quartet of Euro-criminals comes a-callin'?
Why, booby-trap the house, of course.  As expected, the final reel is
yet another trademark Hughes medley of falling objects, colliding bod-
ies, crotch blows, head bumps, and, of course, the obligatory electro-
cutions.  Plural.  Some of the bits are funny, but not tear-inducing,
the way they were in the first (and second) go-around.  (Every *kid* in
the theater laughed heartily, however.  And, oh, did they love that
radio-controlled car...) The bad guys (and one girl) take their lumps
with aplomb, but it's hard not to miss the simpler charms of Daniel
Stern and Joe Pesci.  Or the brighter colors and softer music that
sugar-coated the first films.  The kid's a natural, though.  Directed by
Raja R. Gosnell, who edited both HOME ALONE and HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN
NEW YORK.

Grade: C

Copyright 1997 Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies in MOVIE HELL: December 7, 1997