Growing up, we’ve had a family tradition of watching 1993’s “Hocus Pocus” on Halloween as well as throughout the month of October.
I think it’s one of the best live-action films Disney put out in the 1990s that doesn’t include Robin Williams in the cast.
And, to be honest, definitely, in the top 10 movies I love overall!
So, you’ll understand why I had to watch its sequel “Hocus Pocus 2” the moment it dropped on Disney+ streaming.
I’d done some research beforehand and went into this screening with mixed feelings since most of the old cast wasn’t returning for the new film.
Plus, I wasn’t sure how they’d bring the Sanderson sisters back from the dead when the original movie had them turn into dust.
Overall, it hits most of the nostalgic notes I’d hoped for, but the plot was weak and seemed more rushed than its predecessor.
Hocus Pocus 2 is an American supernatural comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher, written by Jen D'Angelo, and produced by Walt Disney Pictures.
A sequel to the 1993 film Hocus Pocus, it stars Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, and Doug Jones reprising their roles while Sam Richardson, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Tony Hale, Hannah Waddingham, Taylor Henderson, Nina Kitchen, Thomas Fitzgerald, Lilia Buckingham, and Juju Brener join the cast in new roles.
The movie is 107 minutes long and rated PG for action, macabre/suggestive humor, and some language.
In 1653, a young Winifred Sanderson (Henderson) is banished from Salem by Reverend Traske (Hale) after she defied the authority of the church and wouldn't relent in her decision to marry John Pritchett (Fitzgerald).
Rather than let her sisters, Mary (Kitchen) and Sarah (Brenner), be taken away from her, Winifred escapes with them to a nearby forbidden forest.
There, they make the acquaintance of Mother Witch (Waddingham) who gifts Winifred her magic book for her 16th birthday, but explicitly warns the sisters against casting a spell known as the “Magicae Maxima.”
Mother Witch explains that to keep their youthfulness, the witches have to kill children and drink their souls.
In 2022, twenty-nine years after the Sanderson sisters were resurrected by the Black Flame Candle, two Salem teenagers named Becca (Peak) and Izzy (Escobedo) prepare to celebrate both Halloween and Becca's sixteenth birthday but turn down a party invitation from their estranged friend Cassie Traske (Buckingham).
Becca and Izzy visit the former Sanderson cottage that’s now a magic shop run by Gilbert (Richardson), who gifts Becca a candle for their annual ritual.
Becca and Izzy light the candle and discover that it is another Black Flame Candle.
As there is a full moon and the girls are both virgins, the candle resurrects the Sanderson sisters once again.
The girls manage to outwit the sisters in a local Walgreens and then escape to the magic shop where they discover that Gilbert purposely gave them the candle in hopes of reviving the sisters, having seen them on Halloween back in 1993 and been taught how to make the candle by Book.
The sisters catch up to the girls and see a campaign flyer belonging to Mayor Traske, Cassie's father and Reverend Traske's direct descendant.
Winifred decides they will cast the Magicae Maxima spell to eliminate Traske and take revenge on Salem.
Of course, once Winifred puts her mind to something, she’s going to get it done no matter what the costs!
Though things don’t turn out like she’d expected but to find that out, you’ll have to catch this movie on your own.
Overall, it’s got some comedic moments and a few instances of terrible computer graphics, but, if you’re a fan of the original I urge you to stick this one out to the end and give it a chance to entertain you.
