Directed by Anne Fletcher
Written by Jen D’Angelo
Starring: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Sam Richardson, Doug Jones, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Tony Hale, Hannah Waddingham
In 1993 – in July, oddly enough – the original Hocus Pocus hit theaters. It was initially a critical and box office disappointment, but television networks such as Disney Channel and ABC Family broadcast the film annually throughout the Halloween season and, as a result, many people grew up watching it every year, and continue to. In fact, it’s now arguably easier for younger ones to discover Hocus Pocus with Disney+ and the cult following the film now enjoys. To be frank, Hocus Pocus isn’t all that clever. It isn’t terrible by any means, but it’s incredibly generic and very by-the-numbers. Some of the comedic dialogue makes little practical sense (at one point, Winifred – played brilliantly by Bette Midler – who hasn’t been alive for three centuries, refers to a driver’s permit), and the humor is hit-or-miss given how dark it can be at times, and other than the three witches in the film, everything else just kind of takes a back seat. Even if the fan base of Hocus Pocus is largely derived from nostalgia, there is somewhat of an undeniable charm to the original: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy play their roles to utter perfection, the cinematography and visuals can be fittingly terrifying on occasion, and writers Mick Garris and Neil Cuthbert provided the film with a handful of characters with appreciable backstories, giving more weight to a relatively scattershot screenplay and otherwise unremarkable story.
For years, fans have been dying for a sequel. Most people on Facebook will tell you that they’ve seen at least one faux poster for a Hocus Pocus 2 on the platform at some point over the past six or seven years. Screenwriter Jen D’Angelo and director Anne Fletcher have delivered on this dream. There is now a Hocus Pocus 2 streaming on Disney+.
Midler, Parker, and Najimy are back as the Sanderson sisters, and they are truly the main reason Hocus Pocus 2 isn’t a mess. The aforementioned “charm” of the original film is largely absent here, but it’s not completely gone and this is mostly because of their performances. Regardless of the flaws of the 1993 film, there’s no denying that Midler, Parker and Najimy killed it in their roles. So, it’s very difficult not to crack a smile when the witches first appear in Hocus Pocus 2. Their combined presence is enough to carry the film to its close.
Hocus Pocus 2 is even more generic and uneventful than the original but, interestingly, the humor is a lot more nuanced this time around. What isn’t nuanced, however, is the sudden musical numbers that occur throughout the film. The sisters occasionally break into song when it makes little narrative sense to do so. The story could and should have been, a lot stronger than it is, but the film’s biggest flaw is its lack of interesting characters. Hocus Pocus 2 introduces a number of new characters, but the central ones are three teenage girls, none of whom are even remotely interesting. They are stock characters, so to speak, and drag the film down extensively. The only decent performance from the three is from Whitney Peak, who plays Becca. Performances from Belissa Escobedo and Lilia Buckingham as her friends are nothing to write home about. They say their lines, make mildly shocked or confused faces from time to time, and that’s about it. The best bits of the screenplay are not devoted to them, but instead to the Sanderson sisters and their naive discoveries of how modern society operates.
While it should have been better, and it probably isn’t the film Hocus Pocus fans have been clamoring for, Hocus Pocus 2 works, albeit barely, and mainly because of the performances of Midler, Parker, and Najimy. With the help of an occasionally entertaining screenplay – that unfortunately only shines when the three witches are on the screen – the sisters are back and are a pleasure to watch, but it’s a shame there wasn’t a better story to be told with stronger characters.
Grade: C
Headline photo from IMBD