It's deja vu all over again.

"Home Alone 2" is such a retread of "Home Alone," one wonders why they bothered.

Oh, silly me. For the money, of course.

Though writer-producer John Hughes and director Chris Columbus introduce some new elements and possibilities in this sequel to the third biggest moneymaker of all time, they ultimately settle for going down the same road as faithfully as possible. And that's too bad.

Not that the intended audience will mind. Kids and adults will get some laughs out of "Home Alone 2" — but it could have been so much more.

The premise this time has the family heading to Florida for the Christmas holidays, but young Kevin (Macaulay Culkin) inadvertently gets on the wrong plane and finds himself in New York City.

While his parents are trying to figure out where he went, Kevin uses his own resources (and Dad's wallet) to check into the Plaza Hotel, directly across from Central Park. There, the suspicious concierge (Tim Curry) tries to figure out what's going on, with the help of his desk clerk (Dana Ivey) and bellman (Rob Schneider).

Meanwhile, Kevin ventures outdoors, befriends a homeless "pigeon lady" (Brenda Fricker) and a wealthy toy store owner (Eddie Bracken), then bumps into a pair of escaped convicts — Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), as if you didn't know.

There are some real possibilities here, as when Bracken's elaborate, colorful toy store is briefly examined. The obvious expectation here is that the toy store is being set up as the setting for the climactic booby-trap slapstick finale. But, no. The action shifts to an abandoned brownstone apartment, where Kevin uses paint cans and tools for his booby traps, just as he did in the first film.

Worse, Curry and company in the hotel are woefully underused — their scenes are by far the film's funniest and we could have used more of them. (The film is also nearly a half-hour longer than the first movie, a full two hours. Too long by a quarter.)

But these days perhaps the audience expects — and maybe even wants — the familiar formula road. If that is so, "Home Alone 2" delivers.

Personally, I had hopes for something different.

"Home Alone 2" is rated PG for the expected slapstick violence. The language, however, has been toned down this time around.