Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)

This is one of those rare sequels that actually lives up to the original..mostly because it's essentially the same movie!

Once again the premise is the same (family is going on Christmas vacation, they oversleep, chaos ensues and Kevin gets separated from his family and must fend for himself)

The beginning of the film is almost a carbon copy of the original, with Kevin (unfairly) punished and banished to the attic, where Kevin's mom notes that last year they had a problem that started just like this. Kevin's uncle even insults him again, this time calling him a little pervert.

Instead of being forgotten at home, Kevin makes it to the airport (what a relief) but gets separated from his family at the airport (here we go) and ends up following a man who just happens to have the same jacket that Kevin's dad does, leading Kevin onto a flight bound for New York City, instead of Miami, where the rest of his family is going. Why does this keep happening?!!

Once Kevin arrives in NYC, he realizes the mix-up, and proceeds to use all his savvy gained from the last film to check himself into the Plaza Hotel, much to the chagrin of the hotel manager.

Also arriving in NYC, fresh out of prison, on the exact same day as Kevin, are the Wet Bandits (Marv and Harry, although now they're the Sticky Bandits). Not only do they arrive in the same city, but they actually bump into each other on the street! Now what are the odds of that happening? They must be astronomical!
So once again, you'll have to suspend you disbelief, but for much, much longer this time.

The writer and director of the first film (John Hughes and Chris Colombus respectively) decided to go way over the top with this one. So far over the top that they landed on the other side. You can tell that this film is an homage to the slapstick follies of the 20's and 30's, as Marv and Harry do their best Chaplin and Keaton impersonations throughout the film. The pitfalls in this film would kill any ordinary man, but seeing as it's a movie, the two schmoes keep getting up and falling back down again to no avail.

Still, as similar as it is to the original, you just can't help but enjoying yourself as all the original cast members return, along with some new faces, namely Tim Curry as the uppity hotel manager and British singing sensation Susan Boyle, er, I mean Brenda Fricker as the homeless pigeon lady (providing essentially the same character as the "Old Man" from the original)

Just a word of warning...stay away from the dreck that is Home Alone 3 & 4