Review: "Home Alone: The Holiday Heist"

Since this Christmas is coming up, it only made sense for me to watch the 5th and currently final Home Alone film, since I've already the first two good films, the third film, which is the best, and the god-awful fourth film. And all I can say is that this movie is not good, but better than the fourth.

First off, the acting is okay. Christian Martyn does an okay job for an 11-year old kid as the lead character Finn Baxter, who's a video-game addicted kid. However, Jodelle Ferdland sucks in this role, but I can't blame her, because her character is an annoying teenage girl, although the role is vital to the story, and Doug Murray and Ellie Harvie give decent turns as the Baxter parents. But the real standouts here are the main antagonists and criminals of the film, with great performances from Debi Mazar, Malcolm McDowell, and my personal favorite, Eddie Steeples. They give comic relief to a film that desperately needs it. We also have a good turn from Ed Asner as the rich boss of a company, and Bill Turnbull as Simon Hassler, a man that Finn plays online with and is ultimately the savior of their family.

Despite the good casting choices and performances, the film's budget screams "direct-to-video". I mean, when one of the villains gets knocked back, it's so blatantly cheap, with her motionless body just flying through the air. However, the quality is better than Home Alone 4, so I won't complain too much. The humor is also a step up from the fourth installment, and this Finn character feels somewhat relatable.

Too bad that the story and plot are pretty stupid, with the same exact story as all the other Home Alone movies. It's not bad, just that it's been used so many times that if there were a 6th film, I would probably flip. However, it's not the same old story all around, and falls a bit more into the category of Home Alone 5 in level of seriousness of criminals. I mean, an $85 million dollar painting? Dang!

All in all, the movie is by no means good, but is by no means bad either. I came in with low expectations, and was surprised of how much of an improvement this was from the fourth film.

RATING: 5/10