Home Alone 2 Star Argues Its Better Than The Original
For as long as sequels have been being made, fans have been arguing over which is better – the original or the second installment. While you’ve likely heard the case for Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back being the best second title to come from the now massive franchise, there’s a good chance you haven’t heard people arguing over the best Home Alone movie. Bringing his hot takes to Fox News Saturday Night, Home Alone 2 actor, Rob Schneider made the bold claim that Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is the winner of this franchise’s original vs. sequel.
According to Schneider, it all comes down to which film airs the most during the holiday season. While he didn’t cite any specific source, the comedian who played Cedric the bellhop in the second movie says that Home Alone 2 is airing on TV much more frequently during this time of the year than the original. But that’s not the only reason that he views the sequel as the superior option between the two.
Rob Schneider adds that it’s all about the story of Home Alone 2 that makes it a better film than the first. As he puts it, “Home Alone 1 is just a family who doesn’t know how to take care of their children,” adding, “But Home Alone 2 is a movie about a child’s ingenuity, and also about a family who doesn’t know how to keep an eye on their children.”
Along with Schneider, Home Alone 2 also stars the iconic Tim Curry as the Plaza Hotel’s suspicious concierge. The movie has a similar tone as the first one, but this time, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) at least makes it to the airport before losing his father in the hustle and bustle, boarding a plane for New York instead of Florida. While similar antics go down after Kevin realizes he’s on his own in the biggest city in the country, there is a certain extra level of holiday spirit that happens in the sequel due to its setting of Manhattan at Christmastime.
Still, Schneider’s remarks about Home Alone 2 being the better story in the saga could rub some people the wrong way, as the original 1990 film is considered to be an absolute holiday classic. Stacked with a cast that included Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, and Catherine O’Hara (as well as a Succession’s Kieran Culkin in his cinematic debut), Home Alone followed Macaulay Culkin’s Kevin McCallister trapped in his family’s Chicago home after they accidentally left him behind to travel abroad for Christmas. When two robbers have scoped out his place as their next break-in, Kevin rises to the occasion and builds a fortress filled with booby traps to protect what is his all while his worried-sick parents hatch a plan to get back to the States.
Directed by Chris Columbus, the original film was a giant success at the box office, raking in $476.7 million against its $18 million budget. All the love from audiences around the world led 20th Century Fox to greenlight the sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, which would arrive two years later. With a higher budget, the second film didn’t make quite as much as the original, but the overall fan reaction was still positive.
Calling it quits following Home Alone 2, the franchise wouldn’t release another film for five years until 1997’s Home Alone 3. Let’s just say there’s a reason why only the first and second movies are for the debate of the best title in the series.
