People are not talking enough about how quickly things escalated from the first installment of Home Alone to the second, more violent Home Alone 2: Lost In New York film.
There’s no question that the Home Alone franchise is beloved (excluding the cash grab Home Alones 3 & 4), but for movies geared towards children, the violence featured can be a little bit on the excessive side. In the first movie, the gags and booby traps could be categorized as cartoonish.
Whether it be the swinging paint cans, the slippery steps, or the ol’ hot doorknob trick, most of the defense systems used against the Wet Bandits are more comedy inducing than life threatening. It’s really all in good fun as Kevin defends his home against Marv and Harry’s break in attempts.
However, things really seem to take a turn when McCallister finds himself facing off against the Wet Bandits in New York City. I can’t help but wonder how Kevin was viewed as the hero in the second installment of the franchise.
I won’t go in depth into the plot of Home Alone 2, so all I will say is that Kevin’s antics really kick into gear when he finds out that his arch nemesis’s are plotting to steal money from a toy store that was supposed to be donated to a Children’s hospital, and he lures them to a townhouse (which is for sale in real life).
You must be thinking right now “is this guy really about to argue that two grown men stealing from children aren’t as bad as a young kid using zany booby traps?” Let me get ahead of that and say no, I won’t be taking a stand on that hill.
Instead, I’m going to focus in on some of the premeditated acts of violence Kevin used in the second movie, and also present you with the definition of attempted murder, and then you (the reader) can walk away from the story with whatever opinion you prefer.
Let’s look at the definition of attempted murder in the Big Apple (according to this New York firm), since that’s where this all went down:
“In New York, attempted murder occurs when a person comes dangerously close to accomplishing the death of another. However, attempted murder does not actually require death to result, in fact, not even injury.
This is because attempted murder is what is known as an ‘inchoate crime’ which is, essentially the criminalization of taking steps towards, or in furtherance of committing a crime.”
Now, take that definition and apply it to all of these scenes from the movie that are linked below:
Kevin Pelts the Wet Bandits with Bricks from High Atop a Building
Kevin Shoots Marv From Close Range With A Nail Gun
Kevin Electrocutes Marv & At One Point Purposely Ups The Voltage, While Also Luring Harry Into A Self-Inflicted Toilet Explosion
Kevin plotted out these traps, and executed them with intent to harm, and one could easily argue that he came dangerously close to causing the deaths of others. The brick throwing, the electrocution, the kerosene toilet trap… Kevin’s an attempted murderer my friends.
Granted, no jury would convict a child of attempted murder with two thieves chasing after him, but self-defense? I don’t know about that… this is all highly premeditated, it’s not self defense, it’s vengeance. Like a young John Wick…
He ends the Christmas movie as a hero, when in reality, he should be behind bars with the Wet Bandits. Please try to prove me wrong, and a Merry Christmas to all of you filthy animals out there.
