Home Alone 3

Home Alone 3 is a 1997 American family comedy film written and produced by John Hughes. The third installment of the Home Alone series, the film is directed by Raja Gosnell in his directorial debut (who served as the editor of the first two films) and stars Alex D. Linz as Alex Pruitt, a resourceful boy who is left home alone and has to defend his home from a band of criminals. Upon release the movie was met with negative reviews, with primary criticism stating that it has almost nothing in common with the first two movies. The film was followed by a made-for-television sequel, Home Alone: Taking Back the House which was released in 2002, and received even worse reception.

Plot
When a group of criminal spies tries to get a stolen top-secret computer chip through airport security, it ends up in a toy car in the luggage of the elderly Mrs. Hess (Marian Seldes). Unable to promptly retrieve the chip, the group follows Hess and the car to her neighborhood, where, after she gives the toy to 8-year-old Alex Pruitt (Alex D. Linz), who is home sick with the chickenpox from school, he becomes the target of the criminals. However, the precocious kid is on to their schemes and ready to fight the thieves off.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The main problem with this film is that it has almost nothing in common with the first two films due to none of the original actors and their characters from them returning; for example, the main character from the first two installments, mh:greatcharacters:Kevin McCallister, was replaced by Alex Pruitt (who is still likable, but not as entertaining as Kevin); the two villains from the first two movies, Harry and Marv, were replaced by Jernigan, Unger, Alice, and Pete, and the McCallister family themselves are replaced by the much-smaller Pruitts family.
 * 2) *This is because Macaulay Culkin chose not to star in the film after stating that he thought that he was getting too old to play Kevin, as well as that he dropped out of acting in 1994. Several of Macaulay's brothers were offered to replace him, but they all turned it down as well.
 * 3) Unlike the other installments, this is the only film in the series that isn't set during Christmastime, instead during the winter season (even when there are some Christmas decorations).
 * 4) Besides that, the story doesn't really follow the Home Alone formula. Whereas the first two films centered on accidental child abandonment, this one does it more frequently to the point of it being intentional, which is considered child neglect. The motivation of the villains doesn't even match Harry and Marv's, either.
 * 5) This film is somewhat unnecessary since the previous movie felt like a decent ending to the franchise.
 * 6) Poor acting compared to the first two films.
 * 7) Alex Pruitt, while likable, isn't quite as memorable as Kevin McCallister is.
 * 8) Some of the traps are either really complicated, easy to spot or even fatal compared to the first two films (eg. Jernigan getting his hair sliced by a push mower with painful screaming, Jernigan and Mr. Unger getting electrocuted, etc.). In fact, the thieving spies could've easily avoided the traps or perhaps even caught Alex preparing them, as well as that they are too cartoonish compared to the ones in the first two films.
 * 9) If Alex is left at home sick with the chickenpox, then who'll take care of him home alone? That's a big time sin; they could've just called Mistress Hess to take care of him, although at one point, she gets caught by the villains and get's taped into a chair, and then is saved by Alex
 * 10) It would be illogical for Alex to have a dog whistle despite having no dog.
 * 11) Poorly-done special effects (even by 1997 standards), like when Unger gets electroshocked in his butt, the lightning bolt looks fake.
 * 12) False advertising: The movie is said to be a third Home Alone film to the franchise, when in reality, this movie feels more of its own separate movie rather than a sequel to the Home Alone franchise.
 * 13) Unlike the other installments, the bad guys here are basically terrorists trying to launch a missile, which makes the movie can't decide whether it's a family film or an adult-oriented one, but it fails at being both.
 * 14) *There's even guns that are being fired.
 * 15) The villains are incredibly smart and always know what to do when the cops come, but for some reason when they try to take the chip from Alex, they become incredibly stupid and fall for the stupidest pranks.
 * 16) * Speaking of the villains themselves, Unger and Jernigan are extremely underdeveloped sidekicks; out of the four villains, only Peter and Alice have some character development.
 * 17) Shameless and blatant product placement such as Sega games, Mega Blocks, and Pepsi.
 * 18) Very unfunny slapstick, like when Peter gets punched in the crotch and Alex makes a stupid face.
 * 19) While the music isn't bad, it doesn't sound really fitting for a Home Alone movie.
 * 20) No Home Alone poster: This is one of the only movies to not have the protagonist scream in the poster, just like the poster of mh:greatestmovies:Home Alone 2: Lost in New York had Kevin being shocked while reading a newspaper, as Alex is making a smirking face instead of screaming in the poster.
 * 21) *If the poster of Home Sweet Home Alone was announced, then this makes one of the two movies to not feature any shocked face.

Good Qualities

 * 1) A few parts of this movie are still faithful to the Home Alone franchise, examples being:
 * 2) * The film is at least still set in Chicago like in the first film and in the beginning of the second film.
 * 3) * The opening theme from the first two films is used at the beginning of the film.
 * 4) * Like the first film and unlike the second, fourth, fifth, and sixth films, the protagonist is actually left alone at his home and must stall the bad guys until they are caught by the police.
 * 5) The remote-controlled car used in the movie is a decent prop and looks cool too.
 * 6) The ending theme My Town by Cartoon Boyfriend is pretty catchy as well.
 * 7) The traps were pretty clever, albeit some of them made no sense.
 * 8) Alex is nonetheless a smart, likeable, and amusing boy despite not being as amusing or cunning as Kevin.
 * 9) The final confrontation was decent, despite not being as comical as the ones in the first two films.
 * 10) The scene where the crooks get chickenpox mugshots taken near the end is pretty amusing.
 * 11) Heartwarming Ending: After his family found out that Alex was right, they apologize for not believing in him and call him a hero. After that the Pruitts are eating the dinner with the police and Mrs. Hess and they are all happy together.
 * 12) It does make some sense for Macaulay to stop starring in the film as Kevin due to the fact that Kevin is a child, not a teen/adult.
 * 13) The beginning of the movie is somewhat badass and sinister.

Reception
Home Alone 3 received generally negative reviews upon release. It holds a 29% "rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 24 reviews. The critic consensus reads, "Macaulay Culkin's precocious charisma is sorely missed in this hollow sequel, which doubles down on the broad comedy while lacking all the hallmarks that made the original a classic."

However, on Siskel & Ebert, Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a positive review (3 out of 4 stars) and said he found it to be "fresh, very funny, and better than the first two". His co-critic, Gene Siskel of The Chicago Tribune gave it a thumbs down. Joel Siegel of ABC's Good Morning America also gave the film a positive review and stated that the film had "Big laughs." He also described the film as "a real kid-pleaser!"

For a while, Home Alone 3 was seen by fans as the worst film in the franchise until Home Alone: Taking Back the House came out in 2002, which received an even worse reception than this film, often saying that it makes 3 look like a masterpiece in comparison to Taking Back the House. Even Home Alone: The Holiday Heist and Home Sweet Home Alone are considered to be better than Taking Back the House, though they are still both considered to be a step down to 3. The film would also gain somewhat of a cult following in later years.

It has a 4.5/10 on IMDb.

Awards and nominations
Home Alone 3 was nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Remake or Sequel, but lost to Speed 2: Cruise Control (also distributed by 20th Century Fox).

Box Office
Home Alone 3 opened up at #4 on its opening weekend grossing $5,085,482. The film would later make a total domestic gross of $30,882,515. In overseas markets, the film made $48,200,000. Overall, it grossed $79,082,515 worldwide against its $32 million budget.

Videos
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Trivia

 * In the Nostalgia Critic review of it, he gave a highly negative option, as it has no connections to the first two movies.
 * Before the film was made, Macaulay Culkin chose not to star in the film after stating that he thought that he was getting too old to play Kevin.
 * It is the final theatrical Home Alone movie in the franchise.
 * This movie was going to be originally called "New House, New Kid".
 * Several of Macaulay's brothers were offered to replace him, but they all turned it down as well.
 * This is the only Home Alone film that Roger Ebert enjoyed.
 * Chris Columbus (who directed the previous films) refused to direct this one, because he felt uncomfortable working with a new cast.