Hocus Pocus 2 Review: More Than A Sequel An Origin Story, To The Rhythm Of Blondie And Elton John
Cast: Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tony Hale, Doug Jones, Sam Richardson
Director: Anne Fletcher
Streaming Platform: Disney+
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 3.5/5 (three and a half star) [yasr_overall_rating size=”large”]
Hocus Pocus 2, the original Disney+ film that reunites Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy 30 years after the first film, arrives in streaming on September 30th, with a little advance. As we will explain in the Hocus Pocus 2 review, it’s a classic Halloween movie. And it will be a pleasure to see him, on that occasion or, of course, even immediately. It is a funny film that, with great use of means and special effects, aims to recreate the atmosphere of that naive and innocent cinema between the Eighties and Nineties. And he does it well. I would say that to start the review of Hocus Pocus 2, it is necessary to start right from Salem and once again take a step back in time to discover the childhood of three of the most iconic and bungling villains in the history of Disney. Yes, even the fearsome Sanderson sisters were children; of little girls not too pestiferous, or almost.
But first, let us show our total surprise at this sequel that will arrive on Disney+ from September 30th. Hocus Pocus is not just a movie. Hocus Pocus, along with a couple of cults, is THE Halloween movie and being able to relive that magic, right from the sofa at home (certainly with a few more years on the shoulders), the cover and a steaming cup of tea, was very more than a leap into the past. Sure, the initial skepticism ran powerfully. We are engulfed by this type of “nostalgia operation” driven certainly not by creativity, but rather by trying to squeeze old cows again to create content for the streaming catalog. And as much as we expected to review the usual story, the one that after all we loved in 1993 and that, in some cases, we know by heart, Of course, we are not dealing with a masterpiece or a new cult and it must be said that it is not easy to overcome the absence of Put a spell on you yet, even in its shortcomings, Hocus Pocus 2 knows how to combine something new with something older, creating a fun, brilliant and undoubtedly enjoyable film.
Hocus Pocus 2 Review: The Story Plot
We try to start from the beginning: from the plot of our film. To do this, however, the leap back in time must be longer. Yes, because we must start from the origin of the Sanderson sisters, from their childhood and their initiation into witches. And without losing the more ironic and playful tone, the film immediately introduces us to one of the themes most linked to the archetype of the witch: persecution. Three little girls. Three orphans. A little different from the others but not too different from any other type of infant. The only real difference? The era. A world where female independence is not accepted. Rules are rules and God’s word is the law. That’s why when Winnie Sanderson, at the dawn of her 16, is forced into the prospect of an unwanted marriage and having to part ways with her beloved little sisters, Mary and Sarah, she is willing to do anything to prevent this from happening, promising Salem and its inhabitants, not a simple life!
And here we go back to the present, to our present. We return precisely 29 years after the first Hocus Pocus, but always in Salem, always with a black flame candle not to be lit and always with a book bound in human skin and an eye to the side. Becca, Cassie, and Izzy are three inseparable friends from birth. Or rather, they were. As much as Becca and Izzy try to keep the group together, keeping alive the traditions that have always distinguished them, Cassie seems to have already entered that phase of life where a stupid boyfriend and her group of friends are far more important than the rest. Yet, the sisterhood, even the one not tied by blood, is something that can hardly be severed and right in the face of the danger, the threat presented by the return of the Sandersons, awakened by Becca and Cassie, our protagonists will understand that the power of the trio, of union and friendship, can be the greatest source of magic. And actually, not just them!
Hocus Pocus 2 Review and Analysis
The first thing one thinks of in front of the various nostalgia operation products, now a constant of our time, is to re-propose the same scheme, the same structure simply in a more modern context. Unprecedented boredom. Mere soulless wraps. And actually, the first thing you might think about when approaching this film is exactly this: same scheme, different historical period. After all, the ingredients are all there. Instead, as we’re seeing in this review of Hocus Pocus 2, director Anna Fletcher and screenwriter Jen D’Angelo surprise us. True, the Sandersons return accidentally awakened (not too much to be honest) by overly clumsy teenagers, but their goal is no longer to charm children and then make a nice buffet; rather a story that takes root much further and has to do with revenge and revenge.
The new lens makes the story of the film less predictable, again considering we are talking about a children’s film. Yet all the ingredients are mixed in the right way, balancing the most innovative elements and perhaps even children of our time together with those that are elements belonging to the old film or, in any case, dated. Dated a bit like Sanderson’s spirit of adaptation, especially at the beginning. We could almost call them a bit boomer in their way of approaching a world that has drastically changed from 1993 to today. And it must be recognized that the wonderful Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker know how to play very well in the game, preserving their spooky essence but also the most clumsy and a little confused soul in a Salem where the potions of long youth are they sell in supermarkets and are called lotions, but they are not eaten but spread on the face.
And although the signs of aging can be seen on the faces of the actresses, they know well how to make a virtue of necessity, taking advantage of some changes in favor of the characters without ever distorting them, in particular the iconic Bette Midler who with her Winnie is always was the backbone of the group of three witches. From this point of view, it seems not even a day has passed. Speaking of the cast of Hocus Pocus 2, little can be added to what has been said before. Undoubtedly Bette Midler once again manages to give a perfect, disturbing, and witty Winnie. Najimy and Parker are the two funny minions who follow the older sister in everything she says and does, but they too have been able to give new life to the historical characters, bringing a perfect coherence between the 1993 film and the one of today.
The real surprise is the young performers of the three little witches. Most notably Taylor Henderson plays 16-year-old Winnie. There is not only a perfect work of make-up and wigs, but a way of putting oneself, of acting, of interpreting her character just as if she were the real incarnation of the child Winnie made by Midler. And the speech, although more in the background, also applies to the two younger versions of Mary and Sarah, respectively played by Nina Kitchen and Juju Brener. As for the three new teenage protagonists, Becca, Cassie and Izzy, or Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, and Belissa Escobedo, they are less impactful than one would ask of the protagonists, but after all the same happened also with the classic of ’93 identical thing.
After all, with a movie where the villain part is so strong, it’s really hard to match it as the heroes, or heroines, of the situation. Chapeaux, on the other hand, to Tony Hale and Doug Jones. Both are only present in little more than a cameo, but both are capable of making people laugh out loud on the small screen. Hocus Pocus 2 exploits the strength and the imaginary power of the figure of the Sanderson sisters, literally exhuming them after almost thirty years from the first film, but packaging an almost entirely new product. A film that you know how to involve from start to finish. Charming. Rhythmic. Cadenced in the story and slightly nuanced in the direction, giving that spooky effect typical of Halloween movies.
A great way to double the dose of the Sandersons without creating that annoying carbon copy effect that at the end of the carousel makes you say: “well, I could have seen even the first one!”. No, in this case, you want to see this second chapter, although less iconic, and you even want to see it again. The real magic “trick” of Fletcher’s film is its playing with nostalgia but not basing the entire film on it. Through the ploy of the opening incipit, Hocus Pocus 2, for a younger audience who has not yet seen the 1993 film or who might find it dated (heresy!), knows how to be a film that walks perfectly on its legs. It takes nothing for granted, it doesn’t even cancel the past, and it just plays on a different structure, with different positive characters. If we want, it even delves into some elements that are left out in the first film, such as Sanderson’s past and their becoming witches.
At the same time, however, Anne Fletcher cleans up the witch from its most negative meaning. She unhinges the archetype of the “witch of the West” and brings the discourse to a more multifaceted realism. Witches are not evil creatures, nestled in the woods waiting for children to suck their life essence from them. They are not monsters. She is not the old hag. That is precisely the meaning born of the persecution of witches. But who were these witches? Women who had “dared” too much, had dared to know, get informed, and go beyond collective ignorance. Women were punished for sins, not theirs. It is no coincidence that the first “witch” defined as such is Lamia. And why does Lamia become that monstrous being poised between the witch and the vampire who kills other women’s children? Because a jealous woman, betrayed by a husband (I don’t know if the name Zeus tells you anything) is not famous for her loyalty.
Even the Sanderson sisters are not as bad as they appear, but in turn, they have been marginalized, excluded, and judged by children. They have been accused of witchcraft as the greatest sin committed and they, even rightly, have only reacted, responding with the same coin: hatred. After all, even the witch of the West is not born as an evil witch but as a child marginalized by the color of her skin. Hocus Pocus 2 brings this and more to the stage. There is not only redemption of the witch archetype but also the representation of a new generation of witches. That generation of new sisters who live among us is present and struggling, every day, exactly as their ancestors burned at the stake did. The importance of the congregation, of the community that has nothing negative but that look of superiority and ignorance that is thrown at it by those who do not know and are delighted with their not knowing.
Arrived, therefore, after the review of Hocus Pocus 2, always remaining an enjoyable, funny and perfect film for the spooky season now upon us, this sequel brings back to the screen three iconic protagonists, their good zombies and the desire to make messes left and right, but it manages to build something new and surprising as well as to be, in its simplicity, a breath of fresh air in the representation of the witch today. It is not a question of spells, potions, or magic wands. Everything lies in the intent, in the objectives, in the ideals and contact with the natural world that the human being has lost a bit.
Hocus Pocus 2 Review: The Last Words
Brilliant, fun and at the same time original, while keeping the references of the past firm, without necessarily depending. A perfect film for the spooky season that, for the older ones, takes you back to the past while, for the little ones, it makes you discover a new and magical world where witches are not all bad. Hocus Pocus 2 is a funny film that, with great use of means and special effects, aims to recreate the atmosphere of that naive and innocent cinema between the Eighties and Nineties. And he does it well.
