Christmas Countdown: Film #12 - Merry Christmas Mr Bean & Film #13 - Home Alone 2

As part of our Christmas collection this year we've acquired a DVD copy of Merry Christmas Mr Beanwhich I have to admit is not one of my favourite Christmas films. I vaguely remember seeing it when I was much younger, but even now Mr Bean annoys me incredibly.

That said, it is funny. But it's not really my sort of funny. I'm not so into the slapstick sort of humour, I prefer something a bit more verbal and considering that Mr Bean largely communicates in grunts and mumbles, there isn't a whole lot of that.
It is quite interesting to compare the difference between this and Rowan Atkinson in Blackadder's Christmas which we'd watched just a short while before. He even looks totally different, to the point that you feel as though you're watching someone completely different.

But it's not that long, so I can tolerate it. If it was any longer, then I might find it a little more annoying, but I can just about handle it. And there are some very funny bits, the turkey and the girlfriend's gift spring to mind, it's just not one of those things I feel like I have to watch to make it feel like Christmas.

We then watched Home Alone 2: Lost In New York. I've seen this film many times over the years, most recently in August this year (because apparently that's the best time of year to show Home Alone) but it's not often that I've watched it from start to finish all the way through without interruptions.

The thing I love about both this one and the original is the way that everything is carefully set up through the film, so at the end with the bandits, you've seen almost everything that's used against them. It's quite clever. There's also lots of little nods to the previous film, with the film that Kevin watches as well as the family watching It's A Wonderful Life in a different language.

It's also got some wonderful little sentimental moments, this time with Kevin and Brenda Fricker's character (unfortunately I can't see her as anyone other than Megan in Casualty). I especially like the bits with Duncan's toy store as well - the toy store itself looks fantastic and I just want to be able to go there and play with everything!

I wouldn't say I like this one as much as the first one, but it's still a nice little story and it works well. I doubt whether or not the same film could be made today, especially when you think about the way Kevin manages to board the wrong plane without being stopped at all. Plus with all most conveniences, by age ten you'd imagine that Kevin would probably have a mobile phone so it would have been relatively easy to track him down. It's very much a 90s film, but it certainly has that Christmas feel.