“Not home alone again”
Everything the same as before in the “Kevin” offshoot?
This time Archie Yates has to assert himself against burglars as Max Mercer.
© © 2021 20th Century Studios.
Once again, in “Not already home alone again” a child is left to its own devices. Instead of Macaulay Culkin, Archie Yates gets it.
It has been over 30 years since a boy named Kevin, forgotten in the holiday stress, had to defend his house from clumsy thieves. Thanks to “Kevin – Alone at Home”, the young actor Macaulay Culkin (41) became a child star, in comedies of the 90s there was virtually no occurrence of the lovable cheeky badger.
In the course of “Disney + Days”, with which the streaming service celebrates its second birthday on November 12th, a new edition of the story child versus burglar starts with “Not already at home again”. Is that even possible without Kevin McCallister? The answer: yes, but …
The long list of abandoned kids
The sequel “Kevin – Alone in New York” should be familiar to most fans of the original. Two years after the start, Macaulay Culkin had to fight back against crooks Harry (Joe Pesci, 78) and Marvin (Daniel Stern, 64), this time in a strange city, the Big Apple. Even then, however, it became clear that it is difficult to add new facets to the story.
However, this did not affect further sequels. In 1997 the story was given a new coat of paint in the form of “Home Alone Again”, and not just in terms of the cast. Since Culkin was now in his middle teens, the film revolved around little Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz, 32), who received an uninvited visit from four spies. Little fun fact: A certain twelve-year-old Scarlett Johansson (36) played a role as Molly Pruitt. However, this version did not meet with much love.
Neither did the film that saw the light of day on TV in 2002. In the TV movie “Kevin – Alone Against All” it was once again Kevin McCallister who had to deal with burglar Marv. Instead of Culkin and Stern, however, these were played by Mike Weinberg (28) and French Stewart (57).
And then there’s “Home Alone: The Christmas Coup” from 2012. In it, it was Finn Baxter (Christian Martyn, 21), who was visited by a couple of thieves for Christmas – Hughes (Eddie Steeples, 47) and Jessica (Debi Mazar, 57). Never heard of the movie? No shame, although there was even a top star in the person of Malcolm McDowell (78).
New child, new luck?
Strictly speaking, the sixth film from the “Home Alone” franchise will be available from November 12th at Disney + with “Not already at home again”. The comedy wheel is therefore not reinvented with the film by Dan Mazer (50, “Dirty Grandpa”). With Archie Yates (12) as the forgotten boy Max, a charismatic rascal was cast again who has the potential to reach Culkin. Because Yates already proved solid comedy timing in the Oscar-winning film “Jojo Rabbit” and told spot on news: “I was inspired by the ‘Kevin – Alone at Home’ films. I watch them every year around Christmas awesome. ” Nevertheless, he tried to put his own note on the whole thing.
In addition, “Not already at home alone again” trumps with a direct reference to the original. Devin Ratray (44), who played Kevin’s nasty brother Buzz McCallister in the 1990 film, appears in the film and, according to the trailer, is now a policeman. He remembers well in the film that his parents even forgot his little brother at home twice. The question arises, what is Kevin up to these days …