When it comes to Home Alone 3, it is definitely not the beloved classic that the first two movies are. The characters are not nearly as memorable. Plus, the idea that a little kid with chickenpox is able to outwit professional international criminals that even the FBI can’t catch? A little ridiculous. Worst of all, it takes place in January, so it’s not even a holiday movie!
It’s not the worst movie in the series by far, but it was a very disappointing sequel for many. However, if there is one thing that continues to shine from the previous two movies, it’s the traps. Several traps still provide a good laugh or two, while others don’t land the same hits.
Funny: Peter Is Punched
When Petr Beaupre finally enters the house, he hears a doll crying in a closet. Of course, he thinks it’s Alex, Kevin McCallister’s replacement, and goes to nab him. Alex has a trap ready in the form of a spring-loaded punching glove.
It hits Petr in the groin in a similar trap to the very first trap of the first Home Alone. Seeing the typically serious actor Olek Krupa squeak in pain is novel. The trap does take things a bit further by him landing right on his shotgun with a shell going off. The shotgun not wounding him at all is a bit of an eye-roller, but it’s still a funny trap.
Flat: What Just Happened?
Alex nails the front door so that, even when lockpicked, it remains locked. That’s easy to see, but, when Petr attempts to break the door down, he comedically repeats: “Owowowowowow, ” sliding down the door as he writhes in pain. This reaction is funny, but the trap itself is just confusing.
The camera is so focused on Petr’s face that it’s not clear what he does to wound himself. Did he kick the doorknob? What hurts him exactly? This is an example of why the traps need to be framed and filmed perfectly to get slapstick right.
Funny: Double Takedown
Alice manages to bypass the backside porch stairs in a really unnecessary acrobatics display. She thinks she has won this time, but, as always, it’s never easy for these criminals. Alice steps forward and triggers the porch planks to rotate and hit her before sending her into the basement.
A decent trap at best, but what excels it is that it brings down two victims. Petr attempts to investigate, and the planks hit his face and make him fall right onto Alice as his gun goes off.
Flat: Wet And Boring
Alex didn’t really think this trap through. Burton gets a hook on a string into his suit, and, after finding it, decides to give a hard tug. As a result, a hose is turned on which starts spraying him with water, and… that’s it. No added effect to make it more painful, it’s just water.
Granted the idea of being soaking wet in the middle of a Chicago winter is terrifying. However, for a Home Alone trap, this is pretty lacking and unimaginative, especially after the previous trap that Burton endured—more on that later.
Funny: Sticky Situation
Earl Unger, much like Marv in Home Alone 2: Lost In New York, gets the messiest traps. Finally getting into the house, Unger steps down without looking a la the first movie right into mega block bins filled with adhesive. It only gets worse as he crashes across the house before attempting to reach the basement.
After an impressive front flip, he rolls down the stairs, gets his fingers snapped in a mousetrap, and finally shoots the septic line causing sewage to pour all over him. A little gross but in many ways, it’s a creative trap and that can’t be said for a lot of the traps in Home Alone 3.
Flat: Perfect Pottery Placement
Apparently, Alex is a master strategist that would make George S. Patton seem amateur. Alice is tricked into landing in a straightaway of mud on the side of the house. Fine enough, but he then falls onto a string that forces a heavy plant pot to collide with her head.
This is pretty far-fetched even for Home Alone, but it gets even worse. About halfway through, Alice lands on her back in the mud that causes another pot to perfectly land on her face. Even Jigsaw’s traps aren’t that precise!
Funny: Electric Execution
The movie’s third act starts off with a really solid trap that even adults would be shocked by… literally. Burton sits down on a chair rigged to a charged battery giving him a massive shock. Meanwhile, Unger attempts to clip Alex’s yarn fence, which turns out to be wired with copper to an outlet.
So, the first traps of the movie are essentially the electric chair and an actual security fence? Even Kevin wasn’t this demented. Burton’s electric chair gets worse when his shotgun shells start firing, thus sending him into a wall. Apparently shotgun shells have no damage in this world.
Flat: Alice Down The Rabbit Hole
This one starts off promising, but most of the trap occurs off-screen. Alice is tricked into a dumbwaiter shaft, and she falls to what should have been her death. Rather than actually showing her fall, the audience just hears her scream before she hits the bottom of the shaft. “Ouch” is all we get from her.
This doesn’t work, as the traps have to look painful without making it turn into a gorefest. Harry and Marv in the first two movies perfected this by having on-screen realistic enough pain to make it funny. It’s called Schadenfreude: the enjoyment of others’ pain and misery. So, when all that makes slapstick funny is all off-screen or done with cartoon sound effects, it ruins the trap.
Funny: Swing And A Hit
Alex has his pet mouse, Doris, hiding in Burton’s tattered pants. Calling back to the spider trap from the first Home Alone, Alice screams and tells Burton not to move. In a scene rivaling James Bond’s torture from Casino Royale, Alice swings a hockey club right into Burton’s groin. That is Schadenfreude.
Burton screams like an opera singer as Alex and Doris make a getaway. Sure, the high-pitched scream is a little silly, but it’s still a well-timed and executed trap. Of course, Burton makes it even better when he groans afterward, “you smacked my winky.” It’s so PG and family-friendly, yet so perfectly delivered at the same time.
Flat: Lame Lawnmower
Similar to the Alice trap, this trap is the most disappointingly flat because it starts off so well. Thinking he’s found Alex, Burton pulls on a dummy and starts up a lawnmower in the attic of the garage. The lawnmower comes rolling and falls right on him as he screams in agony off-screen.
Now, obviously, nobody is expecting Alex to slice and dice in this movie despite starting with an electric chair. However, what kills this trap is the aftermath: no blood, no wounds, just Burton waking up fine with his hair trimmed. Lame doesn’t even begin to describe that result—even Harry and Marv had more wounds.
