Home Alone 3

John Hughes' franchise on the Home Alone idea should have expired when Macaulay Culkin's voice broke. Enter Alex D Linz, the new kid in the cack. No change, only an update. What makes this better than expected is Linz's smarty pants persona and a more stylish cut to the bad guys. The story's the same, except Alex isn't forgotten when Mom, Dad and the sibs go on hols. He's convalescing while Mom and Dad are at work and the sibs are at school.

The baddies have a reason for breaking into his house. They are looking for a microfilm, hidden in a toy, and, unlike the last lot, are reasonably adept at what they do. Alex is one of those annoying boys who finds computers a cinch, electronics a doddle and modern technology no more challenging than throwing a ball about.

He's not a nerd. He's a clever clogs. He makes grown-ups feel inadequate. The traps he prepares for the crooks are the kind a NASA scientist might cobble together during a rainy Thanksgiving weekend. He doesn't have Mac's scrunchability, otherwise known as the yuck factor. He's bright and well prepared and up against ruthless opposition, which gives the film an edge. When it's not exciting, it's funny and when it' not funny, it's entertaining.