Hocus Pocus 2

Director: Anne Fletcher
Starring: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Sam Richardson, Doug Jones, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Lilia Buckingham, Tony Hale, Hannah Waddingham, Taylor Paige Henderson, Juju Brener, Nina Kitchen, Froylan Gutierrez
Running Time: 103 min.
Rating: PG 

★★★ (out of ★★★★)

Disney's eagerly anticipated nostalgia fix, Hocus Pocus 2, comes out on the higher end of audience expectations, successfully picking up where the '93 original left off. Those who loved it will probably enjoy this, unless the first film stands as such an impeachable childhood classic for fans that rose-colored glasses prevent them from embracing any sequel. And that's not a criticism since everyone has those favorite titles on which their formative movie experiences and memories were built. Having only seen the original a few years ago, this isn't that for me,  but as far as sequels go, it's a silly, inoffensive no-brainer, with the biggest surprise being that it took this long. So even if some viewers find it doesn't match their lofty expectations, many others are likely to still be delighted with what director Anne Fletcher cooks up. 

It turns out the screenplay does contain some inspired ideas that move the story forward while playing proper respect to a beloved property. The fun, cheeky tone remains, as the returning leads don't miss a beat slipping back into their familiar roles nearly thirty years later. While it's kind of perplexing more wasn't done to reunite the entire supporting cast, it is a new entry and the three actresses that matter most are back. And they do a good enough job establishing the new characters by effectively just throwing them into the mix, showing rather than telling. Still, there's no mistaking who this is all really about, as it should be.  

It's 1653 when a young Winifred Sanderson (Taylor Paige Henderson) is banished from Salem by Reverend Traske (Tony Hale), escaping into the woods with sisters Mary (Nina Kitchen) and Sarah (Juju Brenner). While there, they meet the Mother Witch (Hannah Waddingham), who gives Winnie a magic book, teaching them to kill other children to retain their youthfulness, but warning against ever casting the dreaded Magicae Maxima spell, which could carry disastrous consequences.

Flash forward to 2022 and Salem teens Becca (Whitney Peak) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) turn down a Halloween party invitation from estranged friend Cassie Traske (Lilia Buckingham), opting instead to celebrate on their own. After a stop at Gilbert's (Sam Richardson) magic shop, they leave with a Black Flame Candle, unintentionally resurrecting the Sanderson sisters, back after twenty nine years to wreck havoc on Salem. This time, Winnie (Bette Midler), Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) and Mary (Kathy Najimy) set their sights on Mayor Traske and Cassie, planing to cast that forbidden spell to take revenge for their mistreatment. Now it's up to the three high schoolers to stop them before it's too late.

There's a seamlessness to the story that's very much in the vein of the original, almost to a fault, as if a committee gathered and cherry-picked all the key elements from the last film and updated them. Of course, this time we all know the kind of material they're dealing with so there's a certain sense of discovery missing that can't be completely replicated. It's also not actually shot in Salem this time around, giving the surroundings a slightly different feel that's reminiscent of those popular 2000's Disney Channel movies, which isn't terrible considering the original was essentially a precursor to those anyway. And clocking in a few minutes longer, it does seem slightly less compact than its predecessor, which flowed a little better.  

At the time, no one knew the first movie would be talked about and quoted decades later, only gaining popularity through the years with subsequent viewings. But realizing this sequel is more of a calculatedly self-aware attempt at recapturing that magic makes everything go down easier. Not that there isn't already plenty to enjoy, as Midler, Parker and Najimy remain as delightfully over-the-top and campy as possible as the Sandersons. Midler's role as the singing, self-absorbed Winnie is arguably iconic at this point, Parker's great as the flaky, airheaded Sarah, and Najimy again nails it as comedic suck-up Mary. An impromptu Walgreens outing and a Halloween costume contest rank as the most entertaining sequences, enabling the sisters to really lean into all the hijinx. 

The supporting cast is gamely along for the ride, with Whitney Peak making Becca a sympathetic protagonist and her friendship with Escobedo's quirky Izzy and Buckingham's newly popular Cassie organically complimenting the bond between the Sandersons. And while Tony Hale and Sam Richardson provide some laughs along with a returning Doug Jones as zombie Billy Butcherson, Taylor Henderson shines brightest as young Winnie. In the opening sequence she so uncannily channels a junior Bette Midler that you actually start hoping that this film will be entirely focused on her, or at least function as an extended preview for one that would.  

Some may not like the idea that the wicked sisters have supposedly been "softened," to an extent, but this is Disney, and while their characters have sometimes gone in surprising directions for a family release, it would be silly to claim we were ever expected to take them too seriously as "villains." They're goofy, comedic antagonists with a mean streak whose worst antics usually resulted in laughs. The sequel exists because fans love the Sandersons so its ending should best be viewed as the filmmakers finally acknowledging this fact, informally granting us permission to root for them.

Hocus Pocus 2 kind of neatly wrap things up in a bow with more of a message than the original, but even that feels more earned than cheap given what came before. The opening prologue is sure to be cited as one of the film's bigger highlights, and it is, though the rest isn't too bad either, making this a worthwhile follow-up for the diehards without excluding anyone else from the fun. For a sequel that may have taken a while to arrive, it's at least smart enough to stay clear of unnecessarily trying to fix what wasn't broken.