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Finally got a chance to watch Home Alone 5 today (the Holiday Heist), and during Christmas break 2014 I watched the 3rd and 4th, so now I've watched all of the Home Alone films. 
Now I can accurately judge the series and say that my favorite is still the second one. Not that I expected that to change or anything, but I did want to watch the rest of them for completion's sake :P
Home Alone 3 was actually sort of decent (it even had a young Scarlett Johansson in a starring role as the main character's sister, which is noteworthy) and was the last Home Alone shown in theaters, though it was frustrating at times, such as when the main character kept calling the cops on the criminals he saw across the street and they thought he was making fake calls, since they escaped before the cops got there. But I guess all the Home Alone movies do have the "kid sees something suspicious but nobody believes him" cliche going on. It's a very minor irritant, but it is one thing that bugged me about the movie a bit more than the others that utilized the cliche. I did enjoy it a little bit, and it did have some pretty ridiculous traps, but it's not enough to beat the Culkin movies or anything.
The fourth one was definitely my least favorite, had some awful acting and it was the only movie post-Home Alone 2 where they used the same character names but with different actors, which is awkward. There wasn't really a lot of the famous traps that make Home Alone what it is, either. Despite it having a somewhat surprising plot twist, it really has "bad ABC movie" written all over it and suffers from a lot of cheesy and saccharine segments. Plus there were really no notable actors in this one, apart from Missi Pyle, who plays a criminal, and I recognized her as Violet Beauregarde's mom from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake.
Surprisingly, though, I did enjoy Home Alone 5 and I think it might be my favorite out of the post-Culkin movies. It's more of a modernized take on Home Alone, with the main character and his sister being stereotypical "millennials" - the boy is obsessed with video games and his sister is obsessed with her phone and listening to music through her earbuds. I think they might drill home the stereotype a bit too much since their parents are always complaining about it :P It did have some pretty contrived references to the previous Home Alone movies, though (there's literally a scene where the main character puts on shaving cream, and another that references the Scream painting, which looks strikingly similar to the classic Culkin face). But that's a small thing I'm willing to overlook. The main notable actor in this one is Malcolm McDowell, he plays one of the criminals and does a pretty good job. Ironically, though, the boy is never truly "home alone" in this movie, as he is left home with his sister, though I guess when
it more or less puts him in charge.
That's all, I just wanted to pitch in my two cents now that I can properly judge the series. I doubt anyone cares, but I just wanted to get this down somewhere
Now I can accurately judge the series and say that my favorite is still the second one. Not that I expected that to change or anything, but I did want to watch the rest of them for completion's sake :PHome Alone 3 was actually sort of decent (it even had a young Scarlett Johansson in a starring role as the main character's sister, which is noteworthy) and was the last Home Alone shown in theaters, though it was frustrating at times, such as when the main character kept calling the cops on the criminals he saw across the street and they thought he was making fake calls, since they escaped before the cops got there. But I guess all the Home Alone movies do have the "kid sees something suspicious but nobody believes him" cliche going on. It's a very minor irritant, but it is one thing that bugged me about the movie a bit more than the others that utilized the cliche. I did enjoy it a little bit, and it did have some pretty ridiculous traps, but it's not enough to beat the Culkin movies or anything.
The fourth one was definitely my least favorite, had some awful acting and it was the only movie post-Home Alone 2 where they used the same character names but with different actors, which is awkward. There wasn't really a lot of the famous traps that make Home Alone what it is, either. Despite it having a somewhat surprising plot twist, it really has "bad ABC movie" written all over it and suffers from a lot of cheesy and saccharine segments. Plus there were really no notable actors in this one, apart from Missi Pyle, who plays a criminal, and I recognized her as Violet Beauregarde's mom from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory remake.
Surprisingly, though, I did enjoy Home Alone 5 and I think it might be my favorite out of the post-Culkin movies. It's more of a modernized take on Home Alone, with the main character and his sister being stereotypical "millennials" - the boy is obsessed with video games and his sister is obsessed with her phone and listening to music through her earbuds. I think they might drill home the stereotype a bit too much since their parents are always complaining about it :P It did have some pretty contrived references to the previous Home Alone movies, though (there's literally a scene where the main character puts on shaving cream, and another that references the Scream painting, which looks strikingly similar to the classic Culkin face). But that's a small thing I'm willing to overlook. The main notable actor in this one is Malcolm McDowell, he plays one of the criminals and does a pretty good job. Ironically, though, the boy is never truly "home alone" in this movie, as he is left home with his sister, though I guess when
she gets trapped in the basement for a good portion of the movie
That's all, I just wanted to pitch in my two cents now that I can properly judge the series. I doubt anyone cares, but I just wanted to get this down somewhere
