Time sure flies by, we all grew up and so did Hocus Pocus. For all the good and bad it means, it really is updated to "modern standards". The sisters as kids were absolutely phenomenal, two thumbs up for the actors and whoever managed to find them, as perfect a fit as possible, I imagine. The "new trio" though, the movie really fails to do them justice. Then again, considering what that entails these days, perhaps it's not this particular movie's fault - as characters, they're also as cookie cutter as they can be, we've seen them too many times and in these days we see them everywhere. I can't even recall their names and somehow that fact doesn't even bother me so much. In contrast the sisters do bring character, they are still as colourful as they were, perhaps a touch different, but none the worse for wear - which is quite the achievement three decades later. For those of us who saw the first movie as kids, everything they bring (back from the dead) just works, just as well.

The one fault, perhaps, is that this sequel breaks from the original in that it doesn't really feel like a Halloween movie. Maybe intentional, especially considering the very early release, but at the same time it feels a bit of a loss, all things considered. Oh, and Mary's mouth seems to be mirrored, compared to the first movie, for some reason. Having said all that, as a whole the movie manages to bring some of that oldschool Disney charm, which is actually great - if a little predictable at this point (together with that twist at the end). A throughly enjoyable sequel if you liked the original, I might even venture to say it's a graceful one.

3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Hocus Pocus 2’:

1. This was never gonna match the impact of the first one, but it was still a good outing! It successfully matched the vibes and feeling of the original, and celebrated it in all the right places. The music, the jokes, the easter eggs. Not an easy feat for a follow-up 29 years later!

2. It was smart to give the soul of these films — The Sanderson Sisters — a little more backstory and, at the end, a little more heart. I understand why they opted for that than having the old cast members back — as missed as they are. And speaking of the sisters, Midler was the only one who seemed to have maintained the spirit of their character from the original. Parker and Najimy, as phenomenal as they are, seemed to approach Mary and Sarah a liiittle differently this time around.

3. I wasn’t completely impressed by the new characters. I couldn’t buy into this new trio of witches, especially when the third friend entered the fray rather late in the film. I didn’t get to know her and, ultimately, didn’t care about her story. The other two certainly weren’t terrible at all, but I can’t say they were particularly memorable. I don’t think we knew enough about them either.

Hocus Wokus?

They took one of the best family friendly Halloween movies and injected a heavy dose of far left 2022 politics and took out most of the humor.

So, it pushes "THE MESSAGE" and doesn't little else except insult the fans and the original cast who would be problematic in today's political world.

They made the best movie they could... after checking off the political boxes and ignoring any story telling

Whilst this isn't really a patch on the first outing for the "Sanderson" sisters, it's still quite a decent sequel that manages to reassemble Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy for some evil witchery. This time around it is 16th birthday girl "Becca" (Whitney Peak) and her best friend "Izzy" (Belinda Escobedo) who inadvertently disturb the witches using a magic candle. Needless to say, our tricky trio are ravenous for children to eat and are seeking a little bit of revenge too! It takes a bit too long for the the Divine Miss M and company to take to the screen, before that this is a rather muddled teenage affair, but once they are in full swing it is quite good fun with plenty of faux malevolence from "Winifred" and some mischief from her sisters once they discover that they, too, can zap folks. Ultimately, even the book of spells gets to choose it's own destiny - but whom will it follow? Star of the film is definitely "Billy Butcherson" - or his disembodied head, and a lively reversion of Blondie's "One Way or Another" gets the toes tapping away nicely too. This is an enjoyable family film that does what it sets out to do - entertain all in a gently, engaging and entirely forgettable fashion.

I wish I could say that I was surprised by HOCUS POCUS 2, but I wasn't. It's absolutely what you'd expect with a Disney+ reboot. It was relatively uninspired.

The plot was hardly original. It's almost like we've never seen a movie where a witch/wizard/warlock came back from beyond the grave to get revenge. It's nothing like Halloweentown. Or Spookybuddies. Or the original Hocus Pocus.

The plot was mediocre and bland, but the casting was far from that. I'm a huge fan of the HBO series VEEP, so getting to see Tony Hale (Jefry Traske) and Sam Richardson (Gilbert) appear in another project together was wonderful. The new heroes Whitney Peak (Becca) and Belissa Escobedo were well cast and knew what roles they were supposed to play. Where they brought some sweet moments to the film with some good acting, they did conform to the Disney model. Of course, we can't neglect the original trio comprised of Bette Middler (Winnifred,) Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah,) and Kathy Najiamy (Mary) who brought their A-game to their performance. It was a blast to watch.

The film had a disappointing amount of product placement which distracted from the tone of the film because it had to be interacted with. One scene took place inside a Walgreens, but the trio of witches spent 30+ seconds trying to go through the automatic doors. Another featured an Apple HomePod, and the witches were frightened of Siri. It was amusing, but it distracted me from the tone of the film and besmirched the film as a whole.

On the whole, HOCUS POCUS 2 wasn't bad. It was entertaining and good use of my evening. However, it wasn't anything new or surprising. 7/10.