33 Years Ago Today, The Best Christmas Movie Sequel of All-Time Was Released (And It Ruined the Franchise)

Movie sequels are tricky things. When the first film does well and prompts a follow up, that second film has a lot to live up to. It’s even trickier for holiday sequels. Those films have to not only find a way to live up to the expectations created by the first film, but there’s also the added challenge of finding a holiday worthy story that resonates on its own accord. Fortunately for holiday movie fans everywhere, 33 years ago today there’s one holiday sequel that got it right — but it ruined the whole franchise in the process.

Released on November 20, 1992, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a rare gem of a movie sequel. Arriving two years after Home Alone the film took the formula the first movie established and ran with it in a way that, while a bit convoluted and contrived, captured the holiday spirit perfectly. The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a huge box office success and has since gone on to be a beloved classic. It’s also the last decent movie in the franchise, having largely written itself into a corner future films could never get out of.

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Home Alone 2 Is Cheesy But Perfect Sequel

After a disastrous Christmas holiday in which Kevin McCallister (Macaulay Culkin) ended up left behind while his family went on a holiday trip to Paris, the family is determined to not repeat things when it comes to a holiday trip to Florida. However, things quickly go awry when the family has to rush to the airport and, in the hubbub, Kevin mistakenly boards a flight to New York City while carrying his father’s bag which just so happens to have his wallet. Alone in New York, Kevin discovers being alone gives him the freedom to have the holiday of his dreams, scheming his way into a room at the Plaza Hotel. Things get even more complicated, however, when the criminals who terrorized him in the first film have escaped from prison and Kevin crosses their path.

The plot is admittedly a little convoluted. The chances that the criminals who Kevin dealt with in Chicago showing up while he is once again alone, this time in New York, requires a little suspension of disbelief. The booby traps Kevin concocts to deal with the Wet Bandits are also a little less sophisticated — instead, the lengths he goes to thwart his Plaza Hotel concierge nemesis (Tim Curry) are actually more hilarious and inventive, but even for those small things, the movie is just great. It’s very much a love letter to Christmas in New York City, complete with a lot of nods to the city’s vibrant culture and landmarks. It even has one of the most notable celebrity cameos in contemporary movie history.

But where Home Alone 2 truly shines is its themes. There’s a beautiful story about genuine friendship between Kevin and a homeless woman he befriends, and it is very much a rich character development moment for Kevin who we get to see mature in a real way as the story unfolds. And, of course, the movie has lovely themes about the importance of family. The movie’s ending wraps up Kevin’s story beautifully and provides a great end point for the Home Alone story. It just unfortunately didn’t actually end there.

Every Home Alone Movie After The Second Has Been a Mess

Five years after Home Alone 2, the concept was revisited, but nothing about Home Alone 3 captured any of the magic of the first two films. The third film, while written by John Hughes, saw a different cast, different director and a whole different set of characters. It even removed the holiday aspect of the story entirely, opting instead for an extremely contrived plot about a kid who is home from school sick who finds himself taking on a group of international criminals working for a North Korean terrorist organization. Future installments would try to course correct by bringing back the holiday setting and even bringing back the McCallister family, but it didn’t work. None of the Home Alone movies after Home Alone 2 have been a success in any measurement.

So, what happened? Home Alone 2 was a perfect sequel. It completed the main character’s arc and tied the story up in a festive holiday bow. The “hero” had his big moment of growth, the family got to be together for the holidays, and the bad guys got their comeuppance, presumably this time for good. On top of that, Home Alone 2 had already used the “kid left alone takes on criminals and outsmarts them at every turn” premise to its fullest extent. There was simply nowhere else for the franchise to go.

At least we’ll always have New York.

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