The Witch is Back: HOCUS POCUS 2 review đ
Our three favorite witches are back in Hocus Pocus 2 as they try once again to beat the sunrise (and a group of meddling teens) to attain immortality.
Like every other 90s kid, I grew up watching Kenny Ortegaâs 1993 fantasy comedy Hocus Pocus every Halloween season. My sister and I would buy the Pillsbury precut spooky-themed sugar cookies (the lil ghost was my favorite), light up a fire, and settle in on the couch every year well into adulthood. Iâd hazard a guess that weâve seen the Sanderson Sisters resurrected in modern-day Salem more than Iâve seen any other movie. Thereâs real magic (pun intended) captured in the movie. Itâs like capturing lightning in a bottle. A perfect spooky-not-scary tone, both intentionally and unintentionally hilarious lines, outlandish running gags, and three iconic performances from Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker came together to make the perfect Halloween classic. To say Hocus Pocus 2 had a lot to live up to is an understatement. However, director Anne Fletcher and screenwriter Jen DâAngelo not only delivered a worthy sequel to the original. They also perfected the 90s nostalgia sequel.
More often than not, sequels to 90s IP that we have nostalgia for failâSpace Jam: A New Legacy, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Independence Day: Resurgence (they just love a subtitle). There are two reasons. First, because they try to mimic the originalâwhether out of reverence or an unsubtle attempt at leveraging our nostalgia for moneyâyet often misunderstand what we loved about it. Second, they try to one-up the original, again resulting in a misinterpretation of what made it good in the first place. Hocus Pocus 2, on the other hand, doesnât ape the original. It doesnât try to outdo it either. It completely understands the tongue-in-cheek tone and weaponizes it in an updated way without feeling like a grab for relevancy.
At the same time, it expands the lore of the first movie as it opens with more backstory for our three favorite witchesâWinnie (Midler), Mary (Najimy), and Sarah (Parker). We learn that from their youth they have been outcasts, albeit aimless. That is until Mother Witch (Hannah Waddington) gives them the famous booooOOOOOk that gives them their powersâwhile also warning them against using a magica maxima spell to become all-powerful. In the present day, we meet our own rambunctious group of outcasts, Becca (Whitney Peak), Izzy (Belissa Escobedo), and their recently estranged friend Cassie (Lilia Buckingham). However, unlike Max in the original film, Becca and Izzy are ostracized for being into the occult.
Well, maybe the other studentsâincluding Cassieâs boyfriend Mike (Froy Guttierez)âare onto something.
Thatâs because while performing a ritual for Beccaâs birthday on sacred ground with a candle theyâre gifted from Gilbert, owner of the Olde Salem Magic Shoppe in the Sandersonsâ home, they accidentally resurrect the sisters⊠again. This time, though, they enter with a musical number. Like âI Put A Spell on Youâ from the original, they sing a version of Elton Johnâs âThe Bitch Is Backâ reworked as âThe Witch is Back.â As Becca and Izzy are hiding watching the witches sing their song they wonder, âwho are they performing for?â That question is answered when Mary suddenly appears beside them and says, âyou!â In an attempt to save themselves from the sisters, the girls convince them they are actually 40, witches, and can help them get the souls of children.
Of course, hijinks ensue. In what is easily my favorite scene of the movie and an instant classic, the Sanderson sisters take on all of our nemesis: a Walgreens. Just like the âblack riverâ in the original, Winnie hilariously takes on the automatic doorââthe gates parted for her,â she snarls in amazement when Becca walks throughâbefore our young heroines convince the sisters that the beauty products have the souls of children in them to keep them youthful. As they start to eat the product, Sarah delivers my favorite line of the entire movie, âretinol, what a charming name for a child.â And while a lesser movie would try to hit the originalâs jokes beat for beat, Hocus Pocus 2 creates its own gags and jokesâincluding lines Iâm going to quote forever.
However, what this also did is immediately signal to us that this isnât going to just be a retread of the originalâs plot. Thereâs added complexity including a revenge storyline involving the townâs mayor (Tony Hale), a coming-of-witch plot with Becca, and a reintroduction to our old friend Billy (Doug Jones). While the plot of the original was relatively simple, Hocus Pocus 2 expands the parameter of the world in new ways while maintaining its campy tone.
Thatâs not to say there arenât references back to the original like an onstage performance by the trioâcomplete with drag queen versions of them played by Kahmora Hall, Ginger Minj, and Kornbredâa trap set up by our teenage heroines, and the sistersâ unconventional broom choices (did Roomba have a sponsorship?). However, the movie doesnât rely on them to keep the movie interesting. It forges its own way while allowing Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker to have fun and live in these roles that have been so iconic in their careers.
Hocus Pocus 2 is nostalgia done right because it doesnât rely on our nostalgia to keep it afloat. Instead, it casts its own set of spells to bewitch us in the same way it did 30 years ago. Watching this movie with my sister decades older in her home in New York City (but still with the cookies) just felt right. Like it fits in with the same routine weâve been doing for years. I already canât imagine a Halloween without it. Call me a sap, but this was the sequel my inner child didnât know it neededâbut maybe itâs just really just a bunch of hocus pocus.
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đœÂ P.S. You can see every movie Iâve ever recommended right here.
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