Home Alone: Taking Back the House

Home Alone: Taking Back the House (also known as Home Alone 4: Taking Back the House or Home Alone 4) is a 2002 American made-for-television Christmas family comedy film co-written by Steve L. Hayes and Debra Frank, the fourth film in the Home Alone series, and is the final film directed by Rod Daniel, with none of the first two films' cast being involved. The film premiered on ABC on November 3rd, 2002. It is the first installment to be released as a made-for-TV movie, instead of being theatrically released, and is also the first one not to be written or produced by John Hughes.

Plot
Kevin McCallister is upset that his parents got divorced. Worse yet, things are heating up between his father Peter and his love interest, Natalie. Forced to choose where to celebrate Christmas, Kevin begrudgingly decides to go to Natalie's mansion, where the guests include a foreign royal family. Kevin schemes to reunite his estranged parents and, after Marv Merchants reappears, he struggles to protect a prince from abduction.

Why It Could Not Take Back The House

 * 1) The first thing to note of the many mistakes that resulted in this film's weak performance is that it has a very poor connection and poor continuity to the first two films, which only create a slew of holes in its timeline.
 * 2) * The McCallisters are portrayed as a rich suburban family in the first two films, but in this film, they are a nearly divorced family (granted, Peter and Kate do get back together in the end, but still).
 * 3) * In the first two films, Kevin has four siblings: Buzz, Jeff, Megan, and Linnie. But in this film, Kevin has only Buzz and Megan as siblings, while Jeff and Linnie are nowhere to be found. Uncle Frank, Aunt Leslie, their siblings, and all of Kevin's cousins are not seen or mentioned either.
 * 4) * In the first film, Kevin is 8 years old and in the second, which takes place a year after the first one, he states that he's 10 years old. But in this film, he's 9 years old. In fact, he even looks much younger than in the first two films, like he's only in the 2nd grade.
 * 5) * Marv looks and acts more like Harry, despite Harry being mentioned.
 * 6) *Kevin knows the name of Marv and vice versa. It's unknown if Kevin also remembers Harry.
 * 7) The film rehashes the same "kid sees the bad guys that the adults can't see" plot from the first two films and does absolutely nothing new with it.
 * 8) The characters have been flanderized in this movie after the first two films:
 * 9) *Kevin went from a charming and entertaining protagonist, to a complete punching-bag, who would get bullied a lot by Buzz and Megan, as well as being less funny than in the first two films. He would also never tell his parents once about the burglars in the said films, though in this film, he tells his father about Marv and Vera. However, Kevin was the least flanderized of all of the flanderized characters in this film, as the other characters here have dealt with worse flanderizations.
 * 10) *Kate is a lot more neglectful towards Kevin than she was in the first two films, as she shows no sympathy for the way Buzz and Megan treat him, and she doesn't punish them for being mean to Kevin. In fact, when Kevin complains about the way they treat him, she responds by saying "It's tough being the youngest". Talk about poor parenting.
 * 11) *Buzz went from a mean older brother, but with a well-done personality, to a one-dimensional jerk to Kevin, where how mean he was to Kevin was completely exaggerated comparing to the first two films, and is basically very mean to Kevin for no reason at all. The same can be said towards Megan (though in the first two movies, Megan is more nicer to Kevin unlike this movie). If Jeff and Linnie appeared in this film, the same could've probably been said about them as well.
 * 12) *Peter went from a kind and selfless man, to someone who would reject his entire family over a rich girl, as well as not believing in Kevin when he tells him about the burglars, though he did apologize to Kevin for not believing him. And also how he left Natalie in tears in the ending was kinda mean-spirited.
 * 13) *Marv is much less dim-witted in this film than in the first two films, but has less personality than in the said films. He also looks and acts more and even dresses like his original partner Harry in this film, rather than acting like his dim-witted self in the first two films, to the point where the viewers could easily confuse Marv as Harry in this film.
 * 14) The traps are boring, stupid, unoriginal and lazily-made, because two of them are built into the house, and the other trap that Kevin actually builds is just Kevin spilling soup on Marv and Vera.
 * 15) Despite the film taking place in Chicago, palm trees are visible in the film, not helping that the film was actually shot in South Africa.
 * 16) The story takes place during Christmas, yet there are still plenty of leaves on all of the trees. Going back to WICNTBTH #5, Christmas in Chicago takes place in winter, as it is located in the Northern Hemisphere; while Christmas in South Africa takes place in summer, as it is located in the Southern Hemisphere, which as a result, this film doesn't even feel like it takes place in Christmas.
 * 17) Plot Hole: Kevin actually records Marv confessing to his plot halfway through the film, but never actually thinks of playing the recording back to his dad or Natalie, which could have actually put an end to Marv's plans much sooner. Although, this could mean that this film would probably not exist because then the conflict would be resolved too quickly and there wouldn't be anymore story to tell.
 * 18) Misleading Title: Despite the movie titled: "Home Alone", Kevin is never actually left home alone at any point, since either Prescott or Molly is in the house with him at all times, now THAT'S overprotection!
 * 19) There are some scenes in the movie that aren't really fitting for a family movie; for example, one trap revolves around Kevin throwing a plastic airplane at Marv's crotch, and even a scene where Kevin gets naked to have a shower (thankfully, in some regions, he's wearing underwear).
 * 20) False advertising: This movie said that Kevin and the rest of the McCallisters are returning from the first two films, when Jeff and Linnie haven't returned, despite saying that the rest of the McCallisters would return. Uncle Frank, Aunt Leslie, and the cousins also haven't returned in this film.
 * 21) Because of the actors in this movie looking nothing like their original counterparts, especially Marv and Buzz, it doesn't actually feel like Home Alone anymore. Instead, it feels more like a pilot episode for a television series, which it practically was.
 * 22) Half-Bad Ending: As said in WICNTBTH #3, Peter leaving Natalie in tears at the end seemed a little mean-spirited considering that Natalie seemed to genuinely love him despite being middle class and simply didn't want her Christmas ruined (though it can be understandable to Peter due to Natalie disliking kids).
 * 23) Judging by all of the pointers above, the film has a very cheap and low-budget look to it.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Unlike Home Alone 3 and The Holiday Heist, it at least has returning characters from the first two movies, despite being very poorly played by different actors/actresses. And at least they brought back Kevin.
 * 2) * Also, unlike Home Alone 3, this one is at least connected to Christmas and unlike 2, 3, and Home Sweet Home Alone, the movie poster has the protagonist screaming.
 * 3) There are several scenes in the film that are, in some ways, pretty amusing (e.g. when Kevin makes recordings of Marv's back-talking and makes the recordings sound like he's insulting Vera).
 * 4) Interesting plot twist with Molly actually being Marv's mother and the real mastermind behind the plot to kidnap the royal family.
 * 5) Half-Good Ending: Peter apologizes to Kevin for not believing him and Peter and Kate get back together after Peter breaks up with Natalie, leaving her in tears.
 * 6) Prescott is a likable character, especially after he is revealed to be a good guy.
 * 7) * Kevin is still a likable character (and possibly the most likeable in this film), despite being a bit annoying.

Reception
Home Alone: Taking Back the House generally received overwhelmingly negative reviews from both fans of the first two films and critics, despite being set back to Kevin McCallister. However, his story is very different from what the previous films established. This film is not only considered the worst Home Alone film ever made, but is often considered to be one of the worst TV and Christmas films ever made, and holds a 2.9/10 rating on IMDb (though there isn't a score or critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes). As of August 2019, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is still 24%. In addition, the film received a 1/5 on Common Sense Media, making it by far the lowest ranked Home Alone movie on the website (as of 2021), and has received a 49% on Google, making it the second lowest rated film on the website (after Home Sweet Home Alone, which received a 40%).

Trivia

 * It was the final film that Rod Daniel (who directed the first Teen Wolf) ever directed, before his retirement and subsequent death in April 2016.
 * Harry, Marv's original partner-in-crime, is mentioned in a nod to the first two films.
 * Daniel Stern was approached to reprise his role as Marv, but quickly declined, calling the movie "an insult" and "total garbage".
 * Joe Pesci wasn't offered to reprise his role as Harry. Instead, Harry's name was only briefly mentioned.
 * The producers had hoped that this movie would lead to a Home Alone television series, and several of the main cast members had clauses in their contracts that would have brought them back for such a series. This movie failed to perform up to expectations in the ratings, though, and the series never went ahead.
 * Originally, this film was going to be a sequel to Home Alone 3, but the idea was scrapped and rewritten as another film in the franchise that revolves around Kevin McCallister once more, even though he is played by a different actor.
 * In the original ending, Kevin's parents did not get back together. His father stayed with Natalie, and his mother started dating a police officer, who turned out to be Marv's younger, more honest brother. This was changed when the producers decided they wanted the film to set up a television series, and so Kevin's parents did get back together at the end, while the police officer idea was deleted altogether from the script.
 * This was the first Home Alone movie not to have a theatrical release and was instead made for television.

Reviews
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