Most adults that grew up from the early 90’s to the early 2000’s likely had the 1993 film Hocus Pocus in their Halloweentime rotation. The film, which came from a marriage of the minds between screenwriter/genre filmmaker Mick Garris (Sleepwalkers) and producer David Kirschner (Child’s Play, An American Tail), was released into theaters around the same time as box office juggernaut Jurassic Park and was received with a whimper. However, with each following year, thanks to VHS sales and seasonal television programming, the film continued to gain an audience, ultimately becoming a pop culture staple for the spooky season. Starring the classic trio of bewitching sisters, Winifred (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary Sanderson (Kathy Najimy) and their Three Stooges-level of slapstick hijinks as they set out to eat the souls of young children on Halloween night, the film continues to entertain generations of old and new. Naturally, a sequel has been in the works for some time, now bypassing theaters and heading straight to Disney+. The sequel, now in the hands of The Proposal and Step Up director Anne Fletcher, delivers more of what fans of the original hope to see, and does an admirable job of doing so.
It’s been 29 years since the Sanderson Sisters were resurrected for one fateful Halloween night in Salem, Massachusetts and their story continues to be told as an urban legend. Their old home has since become a gift shop with merchandise including replica spell books, costumes and black candles. Teenagers Becca (Whitney Peak, Molly’s Game) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo, FX’s American Horror Stories) are two best friends in love with everything involving witchcraft, even at the expense of their social status, causing a rift between them and Cassie (Lilia Buckinham), their oldest friend. When the two girls happen to light a new black flame candle, they unwittingly resurrect the Sanderson Sisters. Now, almost 30 years later, the sisters return to run amok — amok, amok, amok — exact their revenge that’s taken over 300 years in the making.
Reprising their now iconic roles, Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker truly have not lost a step. It feels as though they stepped off the set of the first film and immediately came onto to this one. Hocus Pocus 2 is at its best when it gives its screen time the the trio with their infectious chemistry and uproarious comedic timing. You can sense all three actresses are reveling in their return, as they fully commit to the wacky antics they made these characters so endlessly watchable. The trio make walking through an automatic door an uproarious piece of physical comedy.
Unlike many long-awaited sequels to films released decades prior, this sequel never feels desperate or like a final grasp of relevancy. Sure, there’s an aggressively obvious sequence that serves as a commercial for Walgreens, but it also happens to be one of the funniest sequences in the film. The script, written by Jen D’Angelo (Workaholics, Solar Opposites), avoids lazily retreading nostalgia and doesn’t hammer in callbacks to the original. That’s not to say there aren’t callbacks, some of the best jokes here are wittily updated gags from the first film. We get another musical number where the sisters cast a spell over unsuspecting townsfolk, even the very instant the Sanderson’s are resurrected, they break into song, doing a rendition of Elton John’s “The Bitch is Back” aptly changed to “The Witches Are Back”. However, the film doesn’t go overboard reminding you of what came before and has enough new material to keep things feeling fresh.
The supporting cast is well-utilized without taking the spotlight away from the main attraction. Tony Hale plays the town Mayor, the direct descendent of the Reverend that outed the Sisters back in the 1600’s, who simply wants a candy apple on Halloween. The actor earns his fair share of chuckles, benefitting from an amusing running gag. The young actresses playing the Sanderson’s in an opening flashback are terrific bits of casting with Taylor Henderson (Earwig and the Witch) being a particularly inspired choice as a young Winifred Sanderson. Sam Richardson gets perhaps the shortest end of the stick, playing a character whose own motivations don’t seem to fully add up, even when the film attempts to brush past it. Doug Jones welcomingly returns as the zombified Billy Butcherson, whose presence always delights. You might also be surprised to find the film ends on a rather touching note, with more empathy than expected.
Hocus Pocus 2 is an enjoyable sequel that is quite a bit better than you might be expecting. While not anything particularly new, this is a long awaited sequel that offers enough satisfaction to justify its existence.
I haven’t seen it but that is one film I can’t wait to see! My husband and I LOVE Hocus Pocus and I’m ecstatic to see it. I just hope they deliver and live up to the original.
Update: Not a a fan. I enjoyed the show put on by the Sanderson Sisters. However, the entire movie felt undeveloped, predictable, and dragged out. Touching message at the end instead of a grand finale. I watch Hocus Pocus every year during this time, but I cannot see myself sitting through Hocus Pocus 2 again.
My thoughts: I wasn’t really a fan. It’s essentially nostalgia porn that regurgitates a lot of the things that fans enjoy about the original without improving on any of it. One big Disneyfied musical targeted for Gen Z, and I think that’s why it feels so lifeless, because that’s not who’s really watching the film.
Technically, it hobbles from one dragged-out scene to the next and offers little in the way of meaningful character development or enticing action. Hocus Pocus 2 has some amusing moments, and the Sanderson Sisters are almost as enjoyable to watch in the sequel, but it’s largely vapid and uninteresting.
If this sequel is more relevant to the first one and the they casted the right actors, then ladies and gentlemen the 90s are back for Hocus Pocus and it will a great one to watch. It will do great as far as box office. It will definitely reach out to a lot of kids to watch it for this coming halloween. Just like it did in the early nineties. Fun one to watch.
It is disappointing they couldn’t get the original kids to pop in for a cameo or something. Yet I will still watch it and probably have a good time
An updated version of the original without going overboard with nods to the original. A nice message to be heard. And the actors were spot on. The original is a favorite for the family. This sequel didn’t disappoint.
Great review! It’s spot on for this movie. It really lived up to the expectations.
Never saw the first one
Hocus Pocus is one of my favorite go to films for fall and Halloween. I saw the live show at DisneyWorld and had a blast, knowing all the songs. I’ve been waiting for a sequel for a long time. Maybe too long as we finally have one and it falls in the “it’s about time” category and “they waited too long” area. I liked the opening with the young Sanderson’s but the characters feel like they even waited too long to reprise their roles and this is one of Bette Midler’s favorite characters. She really pushed to get this made. The actors don’t feel like they have the energy for this again and kind of walk through their parts with some funny moments but few and far between. Absent are any other original characters except for Billy Butcherson and a nod to Binx. Bringing the original cast together would have made it more magical. But it was a decent sequel, finally, and has a touching ending but just didn’t have the spark the original had. 5/10 maybe?
I thought it was MEH. However, I did enjoy Tony Hale as the quirky mayor. I also was hoping for a cameo or two from some of the original cast. Honestly rather disappointing considering they had 29 years to plan the sequel.
I give it a 2.5 because it’s about half as good as the original. Had a few laughs. Enjoyed the beginning origin story. The actress playing a young Winifred was very good.
Believe me when I say I have loved this movie since 1993 and before it became pop culture, new wave popular and cool. My favorite holiday is Halloween and Hocus Pocus probably has a lot to do with it. Unlike everyone else that claims they love the movie was excited for this to come out, for years I have been strictly against it and even considered boycotting it. But the trailers gave me a little hope. So I said, alright, I at least have to give a shot just to see.
Here are the things I liked: all three of the witches getting powers at one point, the main girl of the trio becoming a witch, some of the lines delivered were great and brought back some of the original ditsy humor from the first one, the cinematography wasn’t awful, it was bright but spooky, I liked the ending and the touching covenant meaning, I’ll be honest, I got a little teary eyed!
Here are the things I disliked: As a OG 1993 Hocus Pocus fan, I really did not care or feel like the back story about the witches was missing from the first movie and I don’t really care to know one. I feel like going into the 2nd movie, that back story IS the 1st movie. Also, her receiving the book so easily in the woods was pretty lame. And in the 1st movie we learn that “the spell book was given to Winnie by the devil himself….” NOT a very modernized witch for it being the 16th century, in the woods. I felt like the storyline of the dad/Mayor was PATHETIC, like why did that character even exist at all,? Sarah was annoying! She seemed to be pushing her character too hard, in the first movie she hardly talked and when she did it was dumb but funny because of her lack of attention span. This movie she is way too attentive but then still dumb and her voice was weird. The costumes weren’t the same. You’re going to tell me that after the Sanderson sisters were gone for 300 years (in the first movie) they didn’t change outfits but after they’re dead for 30 years, suddenly the wardrobe is different? Billy wasn’t british in the first one… at least not that noticeably. The story didn’t really pick up for me until the later end of act 2, the whole story of them trying to get the bloodline was neat, but why some random name of the mayor that no one recognizes. In the original movie they form a calming circle and mention pie… then pause and give praise to their mother. Clearly their relationship with their mother was a good one, and they lost her somewhere along the way. Why wasn’t the mothers role brought into their past? Another thing that ABSOLUTELY rattled my feathers was that they kept mentioning they were going to EAT the children! NO WHERE. ABSOLUTELY NO WHERE does it say in the first one that they are eating children. Clearly, as any fan would know, they are “sucking the lives out of the children”, much less Jeff Dahmer feeling than “eating”… the witches back song was horrible and forced. They should of had the return of Sarah singing to lure the children, possibly the mayors daughter?
Here is how I would of spun it: When the witches come back they see the name BINX as Mayor… not this odd mayors name no one knows. It would of been cool for them to continue going after the Binx bloodline as a nod to the original and everyone would of known their anger behind it. They could of done flashbacks to the time they received the book in the woods throughout the film… I did not realize until 20 minutes after watching it that the reason that witch was in the woods to give them the book was because SHE was without her coven and she was looking for someone to pass it to so she could reunite with her coven!!! I would of drawn out that back story and made it more of a AH HA moment later in the film.
I also hated that they eluded to a 3rd film. I don’t think I’ll ever watch Hocus Pocus 2 ever again, and no way in hell will I watch a 3rd.
I don’t remember the first one all
that much so I’ll have to think about watching this.
I never saw the first one. A film really has to stand out to get my attention. This one doesn’t.