They Want to Be ‘Home Alone,’ Too

In “Home Alone 2,” little Kevin McAllister spends Christmas vacation in Manhattan, once again separated from his parents and outsmarting the bad guys with increasingly ingenious and painful pranks. (Rated PG)

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Ten-year-old David liked the movie because it “teaches you to be nice to people.”

David is probably as alone in his opinion as Kevin was in New York.

Most kids say they delight in the “Home Alone” movies because the cartoon violence is perpetrated by real people and because a kid--a kid their own age--prevails over adult nitwits.

“It’s like the two guys are incredibly stupid and the kid is incredibly smart,” said Amanda, 11.

What scenes did they like best?

“When Kevin thrashes the bad guys,” said Brian, 10. “My favorite one was when Kevin hurled bricks at one of the burglars and hit him four times.”

The audience, packed shoulder to shoulder, sounded like riders on a roller coaster as they oooooo-ed in anticipation of the falls, punches, crashes and electrocutions, and whooped in satisfaction when they occurred.

Amittai, 10, liked “when the burglars were robbing the shop and they were getting the money and Kevin took their picture, then threw the brick in and crashed through the window and set the alarm off.”

Kevin, 13: “When he lit the rope on fire and they were climbing it and they got smashed.”

Marcus, 10: “When he puts gasoline in the toilet and the sink doesn’t work and his head catches on fire and he puts his head in the toilet and the whole thing inside blows up.”

Were any parts too violent for them?

No way.

“I heard some kid say, ‘I could do that,’ ” I told Jeff, 14. “You don’t think kids would really try this at home, do you?”

“Not really,” he said.

“Most kids watching it are that age and they might think it’s cool to do that to some people. They wish they were home alone,” said Garrett, 13, who said he is home alone a lot.

Despite the similar characters and plot, the sequel was even better than the original, most kids agreed.

They liked the travelogue shots of Kevin in New York, the airport scenes and the extended pranks, and the movie seemed longer, they said.

This version also had more characters: the bellboys, the toy store owner and the Central Park pigeon lady--who offered the lesson about being nice.

Already anticipating a “Home Alone 3,” the kids have some suggestions for the movie makers: Maybe they could add different bad guys. Or one of the other kids could get lost.

No matter how they change it, Garrett will be back, he said, “as long as it keeps being funny.”