The Sanderson Sisters Are Back! Hocus Pocus 2 Review

*Minor spoilers for Hocus Pocus and Hocus Pocus 2 ahead*

The 1993 film Hocus Pocus is a cult classic among Halloween lovers. After moving to Salem, Massachusetts, teenager Max Dennison, along with his little sister and friend Allison, go on an adventure to explore an abandoned house. This house is said to be the former home of the deceased Sanderson Sisters. After dismissing a story Allison told about these evil witches, Max accidentally frees them from death after lighting a magical candle. Now, with the help of a magical cat, the kids must steal the witches' book of spells to stop them from becoming immortal.

When news broke out about a sequel, 29 years later, people became nervous that it would ruin the famous Hocus Pocus movie. While the first film originally flopped at the box office, it grew to become a cult classic, being played on several channels during the Halloween season.

Before I go any further with my thoughts on this film, I should give a brief summary of this sequel. The film opens as a prequel to the original Hocus Pocus movie, showing us the Sanderson Sisters as young girls. After young Winifred (Taylor Paige Henderson) is almost forced to get married, she runs away with her sisters to the forbidden forest. There they meet a witch who gives them the infamous eye spell book, which is seen throughout the first and second films. In present day, high school students Becca (Whitney Peak) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) are getting ready for their Halloween tradition: a sleepover and sacred circle in the forest. This year it’s without their friend Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), who has been spending all of her time with her boyfriend. Becca and Izzy like magic and spend a lot of time at Salem’s magic store run by Gilbert (Sam Richardson). Gilbert is secretly a huge fan of the, now deceased, Sanderson Sisters. Like in the first film, the girls are given a black candle, and even though they are well aware of the Sanderson Sisters legend, they light it. And so, the Sandersons return once again in search of revenge and this time, to complete the Magicae Maxima spell giving them all of the power in Salem.

As a lover of the original 1993 film, several questions arose from me when I heard the news of a sequel. Would the story still be set in Salem? Would the overall ambiance of the movie be the same, being 29 years later? Would the cast be the same?

Hocus Pocus fans got lucky with all 3 of the iconic Sanderson Sisters returning to their roles. Played by Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy, this trio made the 1993 movie what it was. From their comedic timing, to their chemistry, to just their overall iconicness, it was very important to me that they were in this sequel.

Unfortunately, they were the only cast members to return, which intrigued me. While the Sanderson Sisters are iconic, would the movie be the same without the original cast?

I actually felt that the new cast brought a fresh life to the story. While the cast of the original film led it very well, it was refreshing to see new characters. All three of the main teenage characters are new to the franchise, all being somewhat new to movie/television acting. With this film still being in their early careers, they all did an exceptional job. Becca (Whitney Peak) cleverly delivered her dialogue and had a very convincing bond with characters Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) and Cassie (Lilia Buckingham). The three actresses showed a range of emotions in this film and I always found myself invested in their scenes. While my review of the characters in this film may sound all positive, that’s not exactly the case. In the opening scene, I couldn’t help but find myself cringing at the dramatic and over-the-top performances of the younger Sanderson Sisters. Played by Taylor Paige Henderson, Nina Kitchen, and Juju Journey Brener, I felt that their performances would be perfect for the stage, but were too big for the screen. Their over-the-top acting may have been due to the director, Anne Fletcher, but I think that it was the wrong decision. With that being said, they did have some good acting moments that I enjoyed, including their last scene in the forbidden woods. Continuing on, I did not enjoy the character of Gilbert. While the actor, Sam Richardson, did a perfectly fine performance, the writing for the character was not great. I just felt annoyed every time he would pop up on my screen. He was important to the plot, being the one who gave Becca and Izzy the black candle, but they could’ve written his character in a different way.

Finally, I have to talk about the actresses that really carried the film. Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy as the Sanderson Sisters delivered a smart, comedic, and strong performance that I felt was essential to this movie. I noticed myself laughing out loud multiple times during the movie because of the smart humor of these leading women. Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy were very bouncy in their humor while Bette Midler laid down a performance of more focus, while occasionally pulling out needed one-liners. This trio had impeccable chemistry which honestly added another much-needed layer to the story. Bette Midler’s performance brought me to tears at the end, after giving a very truthful delivery of dialogue, giving up her powers to be with her sisters. The bond that these women had made the ending just the more impactful.

Fans were excited to find that there is another iconic musical performance from the Sanderson Sisters in the sequel. In the first film, they famously sang “I Put a Spell on You” by Jay Hawkins and in this film, they sang “One Way or Another” by Blondie. Personally, I felt that the performance of this song was even better than “I Put a Spell on You”. It felt like the perfect choice for that scene and the witches were hilarious the entire time.

A lot of people, including myself, were worried that the ambiance of the film wouldn’t be the same, being made in 2022. Unfortunately, this worry was a reality. That might just be because we have more advanced technology now, making that warm, nostalgic feeling unachievable by filmmakers. Something about older movies just clicks for me because of the lower quality video and older references. I feel as though older movies are an escape to another world, and that may be due to the fact that it’s set in another time period. There were also some very obvious green screen moments in this film. By that I mean it was very clear that they were using a green screen, especially in flying scenes, making it look tacky. You’d think that with all of the money that Disney has, they could find a way to make these things look a bit higher in quality.

Online, many fans that grew up with the Hocus Pocus film were worried that this film would not live up to their hopeful expectations, being set in the present day. I felt that this movie was geared towards the newer generation from their pop culture references, to the Walgreens skin care scene, to the flying Roombas. I asked OG Hocus Pocus fan, Jessica Smith, what she thought about this take on the film, “I was 15 when the original film came out so I definitely identified more with the main characters [the teens] in that one and more with… the parents… in this new one… I didn’t mind the updates in tech incorporated into the movie and it didn’t affect my enjoyment-honestly I like that they updated it but still kept it in the same setting.” I asked Central Sophomore, Elliot Penning-Bush, what his thoughts were, “The first movie always felt to me like a movie for a certain generation, being full of 90s references… which was good for nostalgia purposes but Gen Z didn’t really have that [same] connection to it… Hocus Pocus 2 was much more for this generation, giving [them] the long sought after bond [like the older generation had with the original film].” It seems that this update in pop culture references was needed, and still didn’t stop the original generation from enjoying it.

Although there are downsides to this sequel, I really enjoyed the plot of this film more than I did with the original. Don’t get me wrong, the original plot was not too bad, but like so many 90’s movies, it majorly had to do with a guy trying to win over a girl. Elliot Penning-Bush said something that I definitely agree with, “I liked the plot of this movie much [more] than the 1993 original because, in my opinion, it had much better character storylines about friendship and growing apart over time rather than a teenage boy drooling over a girl.” This modern film focused more on the importance of friendships, rather than romantic relationships, and this made me feel a stronger message. Jessica Smith did not agree that the plot of this film was better saying, “My issue [with this film] was with the plot… Aside from a few points, it was a rehashing of the first movie… which can work if done well, but I believe Hocus Pocus 2 had a lot of missed opportunities…” There seems to be a lot of split opinion on this movie. Some love it and some say that it’s just not that great. Critics are just as divided.

Some critics thoroughly enjoyed the movie:

“Hocus Pocus 2 knows exactly what its core audience wants to see: bickering witches, impromptu musical numbers, and confusion over modern technology. And the film delivers in spades, thanks to the terrific performances of the witchy trio.” - themarysue.com

“The challenge for the sequel to a beloved film is maintaining enough of the original to make the fans happy without being too repetitive or confusing newcomers, and Hocus Pocus 2 gets that just right.” - RogerEbert.com

While some critics were not so fond of this movie:

“Bette Midler returns with her child-killing sisters in a disappointingly flat follow-up that tries too hard to soften the villains” - TheGuardian.com

“Some of the jokes are funny, and Bette Midler brings star power, but I can't help but think this sequel tarnishes the original.” - IMDB.com

While there is plenty of controversy, I’d say Hocus Pocus 2 is worth the watch. It is a film that really varies by viewer. All in all, I would say that this sequel was okay. While that is a pretty undescriptive word, that’s how I would describe it. Like the original film, it has its flaws, but I think that this sequel was a well thought out idea, and was executed decently. There has been a lot of question about whether or not there would be a third film. Bette Midler (Winifred Sanderson) revealed that she would love to come back for a third film, and the other Sanderson Sisters agree. Even if this is the end of the Hocus Pocus franchise, I’m glad that we got to see the Sanderson Sisters return one more time.