Culkin is breezily winning once again as the self-reliant kid alone, while Pesci and Stern deserve combat metals (especially Stern) to the bricks and slings they endure.

It's much more violent than the first film's comparable set of dirty tricks. And Kevin, removed from his embattled home, seems much more cavalier, possibly even meaner than his bullying older brother, Buzz (Devin Ratray).

The pleasures here are entirely cruel, with an unhealthy concentration on the suffering of the victims, on the thudding impact of various objects against their heads, on their howls of agony.

Just when it appears this can’t get any worse, along comes America's favorite white supremacist in a pointless cameo.