Home Alone 3 (1997)

The situation's the same as Problem Child 3: Third one's funny but not as much as the first 2. The change of characters and setting doesn't bother me. If anything, it's a breath of fresh air (be it as cold as it is). The main character's Alex rather than Kevin which's not a bad choice because Alex's likable maybe even more so than Kevin. The main villains are more competent and threatening yet still bumbling. If there's one thing that didn't make sense it was how Alex's mother kept leaving home alone despite him calling the cops twice and no one believing him.The parrot in this movie is a trip as are the traps. Really, some of them look like they'd be fatal if they were used in real life. One thing that's a welcome addition is the grouchy neighbor who starts out as stern and uptight but gradually reveals her soft spot to Alex after he rescues her from getting tied up in the garage. To sum it all up, the movie's not bad though it's not a classic in any way like the first 2. It's better than the later sequels as they were horrible but that's a story for another review.

Home Alone 3 takes everything that was overblown and cartoonish about the first two and triples the excess in every area. The criminals are arch-villains instead of low rent cat burglars, the booby traps are next level, over elaborate funhouse nightmares instead of the blunt simplicity of paint cans on ropes, and generally the vibe strives for bigger, crazier, more more more. It actually works on its own outlandish terms, with a healthy helping disbelief suspension. The film seems to take place either in some parallel offshoot dimension where the Macaulay Culkin stuff never existed, because let's be real, how many time could such events happen in one country. Either that or they just expect us to believe that this could keep happening to the same family again and again like some hilarious purgatorial curse, which is actually an amazing concept now that I've spelled it out. Anywho, the kid this time is young Alex Linz, whose family has routinely left him home alone, and he has unwittingly come into the possession of a super top secret weapons grade microchip hidden in a toy car. The quartet of criminals searching for it are led to his neighbourhood, and wouldn't you know it, an endless tirade of ultra-violent, slapstick, severely booby trapped shenanigans ensue. The pranks and pratfalls here are seriously convoluted and freakishly well timed, not to mention brutal enough to be borderline horror movie material and so over the top you'd need a team of stuntmen just to get em' on paper. The silly kid even uses a John Deere tractor to set up a giant trampoline/swimming pool snare. Sequels always feel the need to ramp up everything past eleven on the dial though, and this one cranks it til the speakers blow. Surprisingly, the villains are played by a distinctive and competent bunch of character actors, namely Olek Krupa, John Thornton, Lenny Von Dohlen and Rya Kihlstedt, interesting folks who can usually be found in obscure indie fare and off the wall projects. They get pummelled nearly to death here, by everything from electricity, nail guns, turpentine, murderous rogue lawn mowers, firecrackers and one psychotic parrot with attitude to spare. It's one entertaining blitzkrieg though, like the first two Home Alone flicks on crack. Oh, and Scarlett Johansson has an early career role as the kid's sassy sister too.

Man, this movie is not for great shakes...but curious as it may seem "Home Alone 3" has not seemed so sloppy as they put it. And at the risk of filling my humble criticism of negative votes I will try to defend, as I can, because it is unnecessary (that is undeniable) third part can be entertaining despite its failures.The story moves away from the McCallister family to present us with a new headline by Alex Pruitt, the new rogue who will pass them on to the bad guys on duty. And it turns out that at the hands of the child comes a toy car with a military chip that high-level thieves want to get at any price. And, as always, Alex will defend his house ... also at the same price. Oh, and it's Scarlett Johansson's sister, almost nothing.Well, when the synopsis is made, the question is: does the movie have fun? Well, in my opinion, of course, as long as you do not have anything better to do, you can enjoy (not laugh out loud, that was in the first two) of this third part. Alex D. Linz I think it plays a good role as a substitute for the original Kevin, I found it funny and nice but it is normal that the shadow of Macaulay is very long. On the other hand this third part has something that improves with respect to his second that no one seems to value: he tries to differentiate himself from the previous ones by putting different situations (Alex is not alone in his house although nobody believes there are thieves lurking) as well as traps totally original Do they make fun? Fair, but the formula is pretty exhausted. But remember that the great evil of his (in my opinion good but somewhat overrated) second part was to be a copy of his predecessor, here does not happen the same, is more original within what fits.For the rest, the film does not give much more than if because, as I said, it is already very seen and it is hard to laugh at something you already know. The family of Alex are quite flat and do not give tender moments but where the film fails miserably is on the subject of the villains. And with better villains, maybe the movie would have been better valued. Now there are not two, but four thieves, but more does not mean better. They are excessively serious and boring, characters identical to each other so their personality is not marked, no doubt you miss the funny Harry and Marv of the first two parts.Finally I will give another reason why I approve this movie: "Home Alone 4". And I have had the "luck" to have seen this insult (not only the saga, but the cinema in general) in the form of a quarter before the third. Given the level of slop that the saga arrives with the 4, I can not but raise a little this third part that is infinitely better.Conclusion, an unnecessary third part but I think you can see, if you do not kill this saga, stay with the first two (especially the original), if you like the tricks of these children, you can give this third party a chance . But stay there, hell really starts from now on.

Home Alone 3 caught a bad rap because it has not connection at all with the previous movies with Macaulay Culkin. This should not have been called Home Alone 3, but something else. I wouldn't go so far as to calling it the best in the series, but I do stand by this having the best storyline. The general premise about a little kid being home alone and creating booby-traps to catch the bad guys is the exact point of the first two, but it's what's beneath the surface that is the best. A group of bad guys steal an Air Force computer chip and must deliver it to a North Korean terrorist organization. They hide it in a remote control car where it is unintentionally picked up by a retired lady headed to suburban Chicago. Hr taking the bag was unrealistic; in an airport, who doesn't check to see if they have their own bag? Everybody knows some luggage look alike! She gives the car to her 8-year-old neighbour, Alex (Dinz) who just came down with the chicken pox. The thieves get the whereabouts of the neighbourhood, but break into each house hoping to find the car. Alex is home alone and sees the thieves through his telescope and calls the police. Everybody thinks he's crying wolf, but Alex is determined to catch the thieves once and for all. The thieves want to search in the daytime because they know everybody is either at school or working. What if there's people like Alex sick home from school? Or retirees? Then the place not believing Alex is also a bit unrealistic. He notices odd things happening in the neighbourhood ontop of intruders. The thieves are obviously experts, so wouldn't the cops work to plant hidden cameras or something like that? When it goes to classic Home Alone, the traps and slapstick comedy is just as great (sometimes greater) than the first two. Sure there's some unrealistic traps, but the first two had them also. Maybe it is just because I am a 90s kid, but I don't get why this is hated. Alex is just as good a Kevin, the thieves are cool, the story is better than the others. Home Alone 4 and 5 are the bad ones. I mean reeeeaaally bad.