Both the original Home Alone and its sequel, Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, have become Christmas staples for a lot of families. Well, the first one more than the second, anyways. As this is Holiday-Palooza and we do have to go look at something holiday themed, we’re… not going to be looking at any of them! A lot of people have reviewed them in the past already and I’m not really sure if I can add anything of insight regarding them any more.

So, why not look at the other Home Alone movies then? There are already six of them out there, including Home Sweet Home Alone, which I’ve already reviewed in the past. I can already tell the fourth and fifth entries are going to be painful to watch just by looking at their posters. But there is one Home Alone movie that might actually be good as it does have John Hughes, the man behind the first two films, writing and producing it. So, let’s go see if the third film, Home Alone 3, manages to capture at least a bit of the magic.

Even though Home Alone 3 was released way back in 1997, I’m still making this a SPOILER FREE review. Like I said, while the first two Home Alone movies are re-watched every Christmastime, I don’t think the same can be said for Home Alone 3. So, just to be on the safe side, this review will be SPOILER FREE. Anyway, on with the review.

In Home Alone 3, we see four criminals steal a highly classified computer chip. In order to smuggle it out of the country, they hide the stolen chip in a toy car. Unfortunately for them, a mixup in the airport sends the toy car into the hands of Alex Pruitt, a very young, smart and inventive young kid who has the chicken pox. The criminals manage to ascertain the general location and start looking for the toy car. Now, Alex has to keep one step ahead of the criminals and keep things away from the adults as they don’t believe him when he tells them what’s happening.

One thing I will say about Home Alone 3 is that it does try to change a few things around. For one, Alex isn’t exactly “home alone” for that long. Sure, he’s stuck at home because he’s sick but his mom actually stays at home at night; she just goes to work in the daytime. So, Alex’s situation is much less ridiculous. I also do like the reason for the criminals to go through the neighborhood as they’re looking for the computer chip.

I also actually like Alex Pruitt better than Kevin McAllister. I lot of it has to deal with Alex being a little more believable regarding how smart he is. They heavily hint at his high intellectual level with the things he says and how he talks to adults. So, when he manages to figure out what the criminals are after and when we get to the point where he lays the traps, I buy that more than Kevin McAllister doing all that. Yes, it’s still highly unrealistic but it just drew me in better. Still, I can’t help but think it’s also mostly because Alex D. Linz, the kid actor who plays Alex Pruitt is a pretty decent actor.

Of course, you don’t really go to a Home Alone movie for the plot and the acting. No, you’re mostly here to see the traps! And I will say the traps here are, at the very least, comparable to the previous films. Some of them are rather brutal and there’s no way anyone would survive that. I will say I was disappointed with some of the traps. There’s one that really doesn’t hurt and another that’s more like a minor inconvenience. Still, most of them are great.

Despite all of that praise I’ve just spouted, I can’t say Home Alone 3 holds a candle to the previous Home Alone movies, sadly. One of the biggest problem I have with the film are the antagonists. There are four baddies this time around but they have way less charisma and personality than Harry and Marv, the Wet Bandits. They’re just well-organized criminals and I can’t really figure out any defining traits they might have. In fact, they come off as too serious! So, when they start falling for the Rube Goldberg traps Alex sets up around the house, it just doesn’t make a lot of sense why they would do so!

While it is refreshing to see the kid not actually being home alone as the title suggests, this also limits Alex’s growth as a character. In the previous two Home Alone movies, we get to see Kevin McAllister actually learn a lesson or two while he has to live all by his lonesome. Here, the kid doesn’t really have to learn anything new as he doesn’t experience the hardship of actually living by himself.

There’s also the weird issue that, despite it being set during the holidays, Home Alone 3 doesn’t really feel like a Christmas movie. No, really. They only mention that it’s the holiday season very early on. And, sure, there’s snow on the ground. But the holiday season never really factors into the plot. Heck, as far as I can remember, they didn’t even play a single Christmas carol! Honestly, it almost feels like I’m cheating by reviewing Home Alone 3 for Holiday-Palooza! That’s how much this doesn’t feel like a Christmas movie!

Is Home Alone 3 worth a watch? Well, kind of. Like I said, I do like the kid’s acting and the traps are pretty good. However, Home Alone 3 doesn’t feel like it has the soul of the previous two Home Alone movies. It’s not exactly a cash grab but the heart just isn’t there. However, if you are kind of sick of watching the original Home Alone and Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, I think Home Alone 3 might be a weird way to get your Home Alone fix. Not the greatest Home Alone movie but definitely not the worst. I should know. I watched Home Sweet Home Alone.

Have you seen Home Alone 3? How does it stack up to the other movies in the franchise? Let me know in the comments section below!