Box office Home Alone 2 opened with $31.1 million from 2,222 theaters, averaging $14,009 per site. It broke the short-lived record set one week earlier by ''
Bram Stoker's Dracula for having the largest November opening weekend. The film went on to hold this record until 1994 when it was taken by Interview with the Vampire. Additionally, it achieved the highest opening weekend for a Chris Columbus film and would hold that record until it was surpassed by Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in 2001. It started off better than Home Alone'', grossing $100 million in 24 days compared to 33 days for the original. However, the final
box office gross was lower with $173.6 million in the United States and Canada and a worldwide total of $359 million, compared to $476 million for the first film. The film was released in the
United Kingdom on December 11, 1992, and topped the country's box office that weekend. The film is the
third-highest-grossing film released in 1992 behind
The Bodyguard and
Aladdin. In the United States and Canada, it grossed more than
The Bodyguard and
ranked second.
Critical response Initial On
Rotten Tomatoes Home Alone 2: Lost in New York has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's critical consensus reads: "A change of venue – and more sentimentality and violence – can't obscure the fact that
Home Alone 2: Lost in New York is a less inspired facsimile of its predecessor." On
Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 46 out of 100 based on 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by
CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, a grade lower than the "A" earned by its predecessor.
Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two out of four stars and stated that "
cartoon violence is only funny in cartoons. Most of the live-action attempts to duplicate animation have failed, because when flesh-and-blood figures hit the pavement, we can almost hear the bones crunch, and it isn't funny."
Kenneth Turan, reviewing for the
Los Angeles Times, wrote: "Whatever was unforced and funny in the first film has become exaggerated here, whatever was slightly sentimental has been laid on with a trowel. The result, with some exceptions, plays like an over-elaborate parody of the first film, reminding us why we enjoyed it without being able to duplicate its appeal."
Dave Kehr of the
Chicago Tribune wrote the sequel "plays like a coarsened, self-parodying version of the original, in which the fantasy elements have become grubbier and more materialistic, the sentimentality more treacly and aggressive, and the slapstick violence—already astonishingly intense in the first film—even more graphic and sadistic." Brian Lowry of
Variety noted the sequel's derivativeness when compared to the original film, but wrote the "action sequences are well-choreographed, if, perhaps, too mean-spirited even in light of their cartoonish nature".
Janet Maslin for
The New York Times acknowledged that "
Home Alone 2 may be lazily conceived, but it is staged with a sense of occasion and a lot of holiday cheer. The return of Mr. Culkin in this role is irresistible, even if this utterly natural comic actor has been given little new to do. Mr. Pesci and Mr. Stern bring great gusto to their characters' stupidity, to the point where they are far funnier just walking and talking than they are being hurt." Reviewing for
Time magazine,
Richard Schickel noted "
Home Alone 2 precisely follows the formula that made its predecessor the biggest grossing comedy in human history. But no, it is not a drag, and it is not a rip-off. Look on it as a twice-told fairy tale." He praised Hughes and Chris Columbus and felt "the details of the situations are developed vividly and originally. And they are presented with an energy and a conviction that sequels usually lack." Duane Byrge of
The Hollywood Reporter wrote that while the "sequel is merely a superimposition of the original, kids will be delighted" by it. He further praised Culkin as "breezily winning", felt Pesci and Stern deserved combat medals, and Curry served as "a terrific foil for Kevin's pranks". Culkin explained that he preferred the sequel more than the first film, "I got paid more. I think I own five percent of the net. And also 15 percent of the merchandising. So, if you buy a
Talkboy I'm like yeah, I'll take 15 percent of that. Thank you very much."
Retrospective During the 21st century, online reviewers have looked more favorably on the film. John Nugent of
Empire, in a 2022 article entitled 'Why
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York Is Better Than
Home Alone', argued that the film was "a sequel that effectively also functions as a remake, a film that recognises the greatness of what came before and wisely hews as close to that winning formula as possible." Nugent also opined that "by setting the final showdown in a house undergoing renovations, the filmmakers give themselves room to be more ambitious, wild, and far more brutal" and praised the work of stunt coordinator Freddie Hice since no CGI was used. Also writing in 2022, Reid Goldberg of
Collider noted: "A significant part of the film's appeal... is that it's unapologetic in taking everything they loved about the first film to a higher level." ==Novelization==