Max Mercer

Maxwell "Max" Johan Mercer is the main protagonist of the 2021 Christmas movie, mh:awfulmovies:Home Sweet Home Alone.

Why He Ought To Be Left Home Alone

 * 1) Let's get the elephant out of the room, he is a complete rip-off of mh:greatcharacters:Kevin McCallister, but with none of the charm and likability that Kevin had, due to many reasons listed below are things that he either lacks when compared to him.
 * 2) He is incredibly bratty. He whines about soda and then steals a soda can which caused the whole mess in the first place, always contemplates about taking toys that were meant for needy children, and doesn't try to bother hearing Pam and Jeff out despite the two not wanting to hurt him until the end of the film.
 * 3) He's also incredibly whiny and disrespectful to his mother. Once again, unlike Kevin McCallister who felt mistreated, Max is instead being bratty for the most petty things, such as not getting McDonalds.
 * 4) Compared to Kevin, who felt mistreated and antagonized by all of his family members, Max wishes he was home alone simply because of he's cramped up with all of his relatives. His family members don't even do anything mean-spirited or antagonizing to make him wish that.
 * 5) The one scene where he dresses as a lady is cringey and even somewhat offensive to watch.
 * 6) While some of his traps (see RQ #1) are decent, most of his traps are either ripped-off from the other Home Alone movies (e.g. the ice trap (mh:greatestmovies:Home Alone) and the cookies trap (Home Alone 5) or just nonsensical (e.g. the VR trap).
 * 7) His role as the protagonist is rather misused, as he has less screen-time than the supposed antagonists, Pam and Jeff. Because of this, some could call Pam and Jeff the protagonists instead of him.
 * 8) Terrible and obnoxious acting from Archie Yates.
 * 9) * Which is a shame considering in Yates' last role before this film, he won a Critics' Choice Movie Award nomination as Yorki in Jojo Rabbit, which just screams wasted talent.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) Some of the traps he created were decent, despite being inferior to Kevin's traps in the first two Home Alone movies.
 * 2) He does become likeable in the end, and does redeem himself.
 * 3) Although a questionable movie decision, Max didn't steal the doll, so he never did anything out of total malintent or evil.