Hocus Pocus 2

On September 30th, Hocus Pocus 2 was released onto Disney Plus 29 years after the original. Hocus Pocus 2 follows friends Becca, Izzy, and Cassie as they accidentally bring the Sanderson Sisters back to Salem. They must soon work together to figure out how to stop the child-hungry sisters from wreaking havoc on the world.

To put it into perspective, I did not watch the first Hocus Pocus film until this year, so I do not have the nostalgic feeling that most people get with this movie. That being said, you can tell that the movie was definitely going for that nostalgic feeling with its viewers with enough callbacks to the original that it satisfies fans but not so much that it feels like a rehash of the original. The movie also attempts to build on the sisters and give more background to their characters specifically Winnie. Outside of the nostalgia, the movie also has a lot of humor with several moments making me laugh out loud. It also goes for the fish out of water humor with the Sanderson sisters trying to understand current culture and aspects of society that were not there in the last film. Of course, the main draw and staple of the film are the sisters themselves. They steal every scene they are in and are just an iconic part of the movie and Halloween. You can tell the actresses are having a lot of fun in their roles and really just live it up in the film.

Unfortunately, this film doesn't live up to the quality of the original and has some aspects that really hurt the film. The movie itself is longer yet the story itself feels shorter and has less substance than the original. It felt like the run time was padded a little bit to make the movie longer even though it could have been shorter than the original. Another issue is that the main characters are completely forgettable and they don't have any defining characteristics. The way they took the Becca character felt forced and not a good direction to go. Finally, the way the film was closed out and the redemption arc that was taken did not sit well with me at all, and felt like it detracted from the overall story.

Overall, the movie is entertaining enough. It is fun to see the Sanderson Sisters in action and will hit the right buttons if you are nostalgic for the original. But in the end, the story was not really good enough to justify a sequel 29 years later.

Grade: B- Score: 6.5/10 Recommendation: Watch it if you are a fan of the original