Y’all…sometimes, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York does not make sense. And today, I have to talk about it.
As someone who considers herself a Christmas movie buff, one of my favorites that I watch every year without fail is Home Alone 2: Lost in New York. I’ll get into why in just a bit, but as I’ve grown up and seen this movie time after time, I have started to realize just how many things in this film don’t make sense at all. Let's talk about what they are.
First Off, I Love This Movie, So Don’t Take This The Wrong Way
Let me begin by saying that I love Home Alone 2. Sometimes even more than the original. I've seen some of the best Christmas movies out there, but I have always had a special connection to the second flick, where Kevin somehow finds himself lost in the Big Apple.
Truthfully, for me, it traces back to a day when I came home sick from school, and I watched it with my mother for the first time, and ever since then, it’s become our thing. We pretty much know the entire film by heart, quote it religiously, and make a point every year when we’re together to watch both the first and the second – but especially the second.
It’s a sweet Christmas thing between mother and daughter that I cherish deeply. The film itself obviously deals with the topic of mothers and their children and being thankful for what they have. It’s an all-around fun film. There are plenty of great original Christmas movies on Netflix or classic Christmas films, but this one is our little tradition.
But, as my mom and I have discussed before, some things in this film don’t make sense, despite my evident love for it.
Let’s Not Even Acknowledge The Amount Of Times Harry And Marv Should Be Dead
Yeah, I’m not going to go into heavy detail with this because I literally wrote an article about all the times Marv and Harry should have died in the Home Alone franchise. This movie just ups the violence tenfold.
My father recently watched the films with my mother, and he said that the amount of violence in the second film is like watching those classic Wile E. Coyote chases Road Runner cartoons, and I totally agree. The second film is twenty times worse, and the fact that these two somehow survive is the biggest thing that does not make sense.
Why Is Everyone Laughing At Buzz’s Prank? It’s Not Funny – Like, At All
One of my biggest issues with the film is how it starts. Obviously, we see Kevin getting ripped on by his family because it can’t be a Home Alone movie without him somehow taking the blame for everything. But this time, what happened wasn’t even funny.
They were at a school concert – which, also, why is Buzz in the same school choir as Kevin (these two are like six years apart in age)? – And he decides to use his fake candles to mess with Kevin during the concert, giving him elf ears, pretending he’s a drum – you know, big brother crap.
The annoying part is that the adults in the audience are laughing like it’s the funniest thing in the world. I’m sorry, but do you not watch comedy? Or anything actually funny? Because if you find a big kid bullying a literal child that hilarious, I think you have some significant problems.
Kevin Being Allowed To Walk Into Any Seat On An Airplane
I know this movie came out many years before 9/11, but I’m sorry. Airport security was not that lacking back in the 1990s, and you wouldn’t just be allowed to walk on any plane and take any seat you wanted.
And that’s not even just with Kevin—the McCallisters are getting on the plane to Florida and being told to grab whatever is available. Did you not book your seats beforehand? Is this a first-come, first-serve kind of thing?
You Cannot See NYC From Any New York City-Based Airport – At Least, Not That Well
As someone who has flown into LaGuardia, JFK, and Newark, I can tell you that you cannot see the city as well as Kevin does when he first flies into New York. Maybe from a far distance, you can see some buildings.
But the entire city skyline? Heck no. That’s almost too close to the city in general. There’s no way you’d be able to see that much.
The Hotel Staff At The Plaza Being The “Finest Idiots In New York”
Guys. This is the PLAZA HOTEL.
It is the literal pinnacle of service, and you’re telling me that they’re that inept?
Granted, I do believe that this is one of Tim Curry’s best movies, and he’s hilarious as the Concierge (Mr. Hector), but man, there are so many times when I wonder about him and the rest of this stuff and think, “How are they letting a child in? Why are they scaring him away? How did that credit card scam thing work?”
For a job at somewhere like The Plaza, you need to be specifically trained, and none of these idiots – as they say, “the finest in New York” – went to that school, clearly.
Why Does Kevin Not Ask For Help At All? In New York City?
This is New York City. Yet, Kevin doesn’t ask for help until the very end, when he calls the police. He just keeps running, tracking the bandits behind him the whole way through, using his street smarts to somehow survive.
But, there’s literally help everywhere, and if not from the police, then from other first responders or maybe a kindly shop owner. I get that maybe he might be scared because of the whole credit card situation, but he’s a kid. The most likely scenario is that they would help him out, regardless, because he didn’t know what he was doing.
There’s No Freaking Way Marv And Harry Would Run Into The Same Woman TWICE In NYC
Do you know the population of New York City in 1992 (when the film was released)? About 7.3 million. While I know that this is one of the best movies set in New York City, the chances of them running into that exact same woman twice in the same week are astronomically small.
The chance is there, but come on. Are we really going to say it’s realistic that Marv would somehow find the same woman twice? That Kevin ran into the same person? It’s just not feasible.
How Do The Ice Skaters Not Realize Marv Takes Their Clothes?
THIS!!!!! This is one of the biggest issues I have with the movie. Marv has this whole thing going on where he has glue or tape or something on his gloves, and when he places them on someone else, it takes off their clothes—a hat, scarves, mittens, you name it.
But no one stops him. Legit, not a single person pauses when Marv uses his gloves to take things off of their bodies. They keep on skating away as he rips off clothes piece by piece. Excuse me? I don’t understand how that works.
How Did Kevin Buy Those Fireworks?
First off, fireworks are incredibly and very much illegal in New York. In fact, they only became legal in 2014 for, like, five days of the year – on Independence Day and the days after. Every other time, though, you can’t get them.
I know what you’ll say—he goes to a Chinese store to buy them. But I’m sorry. Even then, a ten-year-old should not have been able to buy fireworks. I don’t know what kind of store the people in the movie ran, but I know for a fact that if I went to a store at ten and asked for the fireworks that he got, they would not sell them to me.
Look, there is no denying the impact of this film—the movie even inspired one of the biggest Christmas toys in 1993. Years later, people are still watching it and it's lovely.
But there are just some moments that grind my gears and make me wonder how this child even functions when some of these things don’t make sense. Maybe one day I’ll get it…but for now, I suppose I’ll live in blissful ignorance and rewatch the movie for fun.
