Hocus Pocus 2

by Tyler Glover

Photo: Disney

Director: Anne Fletcher 
Starring: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker & Kathy Najimy 
Rated: PG 
Runtime: 1 hour & 43 minutes 

SISTTTTTTTAAAAAASSSSSSSSS! Gather round! The time has finally come! The Witches Are Back! Thankfully, we did not have to wait 300 more years for a virgin to light the Black Flame Candle for the Sanderson Sisters to return in Disney’s “Hocus Pocus 2.” (Out now on Disney+)

However, when “Hocus Pocus” first came out in 1993, the idea it would get a sequel would have been laughed at. It did not perform well at the box office mostly due to a horrible decision by Disney to place the film for a summer release instead of during the Halloween season the film depicts. Over the years, though, the film gained tons of fans when released on television and those fans shared it with their kids leading “Hocus Pocus 2” to be an inevitable reality. 

Was it everything fans were wanting it to be? Will the magic continue after dawn approaches or does the film deserve to remain buried like Billy Butcherson?

This time the Witches are brought back unwittingly by two best friends named Becca and Izzy (Whitney Peak and Belissa Escobedo). Celebrating Becca’s 16th birthday in the Forbidden Woods of Salem, they are tricked into lighting the candle that brings Winifred, Mary and Sarah Sanderson (Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker) back once more. This time around, Winifred ditches collecting children’s souls with two clear motives in mind: to get revenge on the Mayor of Salem and achieve immortality by becoming the most powerful witch of all time.

Where this film truly shines is how incredible it is to see these three actresses reuniting 29 years after the original and it seems like this sequel was just shot a year later. The chemistry between all three actresses is incredible and for the most part, they step back into the characters like they never left them. Midler really does almost steal the show in every scene she is in. I do wish Najimy was given a little more to do as Mary but the sequence with her on the two Roombas is pretty hilarious. Parker mostly delivers as Sarah. There were a few moments that seemed a little out of characterization with her, but it wasn’t too distracting from the overall film.

Another highlight for me was Hannah Waddingham as the Mother Witch. We get a little bit of the Sanderson Sisters’ backstory and how Winifred got her Book. Waddingham’s scene is fantastic, and her commitment makes you feel like she is going to be there throughout the whole movie. In fact, I would have loved to see Waddingham more and if there is another “Hocus Pocus” to come out, I demand Waddingham be back, and her character given more to do.

We definitely cannot count out the two main best friends either: Becca and Izzy. Peak and Escobedo’s chemistry as best friends is incredible to see. They have such a likeability factor to both of them and have us rooting for them even though we aren’t given as much of a history between them. The film seems to get the Sanderson Sisters on screen as quickly as possible, knowing this is the main attraction for all of the fans.

The film definitely delivers on the laughs. Unfortunately, it is not as funny as the original and does not have as many quotes that will seem to make it stick out. This is mostly because the film really delivers on nostalgia by finding ways to incorporate previous lines. This definitely makes the fans love it even more. It just does not make THIS film particularly stand out as much as its predecessor. However, it is such a fun movie. I ended the film with a huge smile on my face. It may not have fully recaptured the magic from the original, but it did come pretty close. It will definitely be a film my family and I go back to every Halloween when we aren’t dressing up and running amok, amok, amok, amok.