Mark Reviews Movies: HOCUS POCUS 2

Hocus Pocus 2, Disney+

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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 29, 2022

You can never tell which movies will become cult favorites following an unsuccessful release, but that apparently has happened in the case of Hocus Pocus, the 1993 "family-friendly" horror comedy that begins with the murder of a young girl and the hangings of the three witches who killed her. That description makes the movie sound darker and more daring than it actually is. The rest of it amounts to a plot, involving the 17th century witches' return to the modern day, that feels as if it's being made up as it goes and a trio of performances that desperately try to get some chuckles out of the ensuing randomness.

Anyway, the movie, almost certainly because of its connections to Halloween and humanity's desire to indulge in nostalgic feelings, has become more popular over the course of almost three decades. The result is Hocus Pocus 2, which is too belated a sequel to call it a cynical cash-grab (Surely there's a height to cult fame that the first movie has reached well before now) and at least tries to be a little more consistent in its humor, as well as its plotting. None of that is high praise, obviously. Indeed, none of it really should be taken as any kind of praise for a movie that's clearly coasting on its target audience's good feelings for what has come before it.

Jen D'Angelo's screenplay also misses a couple of points about what most people remember and admire—either fully or grudgingly—from the original. That would be the villains, the trio of witches played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy. In the original movie, they're decidedly wicked—hence the previous mention of child murder and their moral dooms—but devilishly playful about their ill deeds.

The sequel, directed by Anne Fletcher, begins with another prologue—this one detailing the witches' origins as teenagers. The trio of sisters—berated and tormented by the locals of Salem, Massachusetts, for being parentless and weird—end up escaping to the woods, where a witch (played by Hannah Waddingham) promises them magical powers for revenge and reminds them of the importance of sisterhood. It's the first step in the screenplay's odd decision to lighten the characters' villainy and, eventually, attempt to add some emotional heft to their relationship—both of which are ill-advised choices given what makes these characters tick.

As for the story, it takes place in this present-day period, where a high-school-aged trio of friends—Becca (Whitney Peak), Izzy (Belissa Escobedo), and Cassie (Lilia Buckingham)—have reached a turning point in their relationship. Becca and Izzy are still close, but Cassie has a boyfriend and isn't spending as much time with the other two. For Halloween, she's throwing a party, encouraged by her doltish beau, leaving Becca and Izzy to fend for themselves.

They visit their favorite haunt, a magic store/museum run by Gilbert (Sam Richardson), where we once again hear the tale of the infamous Sanderson sisters (Scenes from the first movie play out as flashbacks and, because that's not quite enough direct feeding of nostalgia, on a TV set later). Lighting a candle in the woods that night, Becca and Izzy are shocked to discover they've unintentionally resurrected the witchy sister Winifred (Midler), Sarah (Parker), and Mary (Najimy), who immediately break into a parody version of a song they must have heard off-screen during the events of the first movie.

To be sure, the actors playing the witches are yet again game to look and be mischievously silly, even though the movie doesn't seem as interested in taking advantage of the presence of the three as the first time. There's still a lot of running around for items of plot-based importance—the girls try to save Cassie's father (played by Tony Hale), whose ancestor was one of the witches' main enemies, and Gilbert, cursed to do so and unwittingly helped by the resurrected corpse of Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), hunts for ingredients for a particular spell for the witches. Winifred wants to complete power to avoid another defeat, and even the magic book with a seeing eye thinks it's a bit too much.

The constant running and searching at least makes some sense this time, but everything about Hocus Pocus 2 is either an easy rehash, a cheap rip-off, or a lazy appeal to the nostalgia of what we've already seen. Certainly, that's what its target audience of fans expect and might want, but even so, this might be pushing that idea a bit far.

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