'Home Sweet Home Alone' Review: This Bland Remake Is Dead On Arrival

In the long line of unnecessary and pointless remakes, Home Sweet Home Alone probably stands tall as the worst of them.

Directed by Dan Mazer and starring Archie Yates as the diminutive youngster who is left behind to outwit a pair of thieving intruders, this film has almost everything going against it.

Yates is Max Mercer, a ten-year-old whose pea-brained mother leaves him behind after he falls asleep inside a car the night before their planned holiday trip.

This time, the two thieves are a husband and wife who believe that a so-called priceless artifact is in the Mercer residence. Throwing caution to the wind, they make a daring attempt to get into the house, with the little hero making a stand to protect his abode.

I honestly don't know why anyone would think to remake a classic like Home Alone. When you do that, you set yourself up for some bashing as whatever you create will be compared to the original.

The Home Alone film had this charm and appeal and the comedy was mostly fun. As the mischievous lead star, Macaulay Culkin was a joy to watch as he charmed himself into the hearts of a global film audience.

To say Home Sweet Home Alone pales in comparison to the original is an understatement; it is bereft of the magical charm that makes the first film still enjoyable today.

Archie Yates was quite good in Taika Waititi's comedy-drama Jojo Rabbit but here, his acting is bad. He just recites horrible lines that were written for an unremarkable character who looks like he should be anywhere but in the movie.

There is no need to get into the plot because we all know what that is all about. The execution is horrible, with all the jokes falling flat.

There was not one character I cared about because they all came across as morons, especially the thieving couple. While I enjoyed seeing Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern fumble and fall prey to Kevin's traps in the 1990 film, Rob Delaney and Ellie Kemper made me cringe endlessly.

The dialogue is horrible and at some point, I literally struggled to stay awake. By the time the film got to its conclusion, I was happy to have got the whole bloody thing out of my mind.

I didn't expect Home Sweet Home Alone to succeed but even its failure is low by normal standards. Some may disagree with me on this but I have a feeling majority will see things my way.

Final words: A mess of a movie from start to finish, not worth any avid fan's time.

Rating: 3/10.