Hocus Pocus 2

Hocus Pocus 2

29 years since the Black Flame Candle was last lit, the 17th-century Sanderson sisters are resurrected, and they are looking for revenge. Now it's up to three high school students to stop the ravenous witches from wreaking a new kind of havoc on Salem before dawn on All Hallow's Eve.

  • Released: 2022-11-18
  • Runtime: 120 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Family, Fantasy
  • Stars: Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kathy Najimy, Whitney Peak, Lilia Buckingham, Froy Gutierrez, Tony Hale, Hannah Waddingham, Sam Richardson, Belissa Escobedo, Doug Jones, Juju Journey Brener, Taylor Henderson, Nina Kitchen, David Torres Jr., Ginger Minj, Kornbread Jeté, Kahmora Hall, Skyla Sousa, Aiden Torres, Emma Kaufman, Ryan Rosenthal, Amanda Shepherd
  • Director: Anne Fletcher
 Comments
  • Itsmalena - 29 October 2023
    Pleasantly Surprised
    Not really a sequel but a good stand alone that builds on the first. The movie starts off by giving us a look at how the sister came to be. The acting by the three younger actresses captures the true essence of the characters aka the hilarious, scheming, and witty Sanderson sisters from the first movie. It's a great set up. I thoroughly enjoyed that part. Another part I found myself laughing at was the Walgreens visit. I don't know why but I genuinely found that entire but entertaining.

    Additionally, I'm a 30 year old so I understand that some of the jokes, quips, and to an extent the overall film isn't for me/anyone my age. I feel that any 7 to 13 year old would probably appreciate the humor and the plot of this film. This film isn't really made for folks my age and that's okay. I see a lot of reviewers get upset at that but let's remember, we're not the target audience.

    Overall it started off great. The sisters received a good introduction, the plot was set up and developed well into the first musical number. The original actresses seemed to have slipped right back into character and their portrayal seemed genuine and not awkward. After that it did feel a rushed. I would have enjoyed watching Winnie develop herself a bit more rather than seeing her flip a switch and suddenly come to her senses. The running joke with Billy was a great call back that helped solidify the link between the first movie and this one. Overall, it was a pleasant film.
  • dakoko-35885 - 26 September 2023
    Still upset
    I had watched Hocus Pocus 2 when it first came out and was throughly disappointed. I decided to give it a second chance this Fall, trying to suppress my love/bias of the original movie from clouding my judgement, as I knew what to expect. But, I still find that the sequel (in lack of better terms) is horrible.

    I believe the ultimate downfall of this movie is the writing/ plot. I understand where the writers/ directors wanted to go with this movie, the idea behind it and giving the witches a backstory isn't bad, but all together there are just too many plot holes and silly writing to make this movie enjoyable. This is especially since the first is such an easy to watch film that is funny, tongue in cheek at moments, and a tiny bit scary.

    There is nothing even remotely frightening in this film, not that the first was scary by any means, but at least watching the original for the first time as a child, and now as an adult, I still feel some tenseness while watching the first movie. The sequel has too many moments where there are attempts to make of-the-time jokes, or referential moments to the first movie that just fall so flat it gave me second hand embarrassment.

    I don't hold the opinion that the acting is bad in this film, although I'm confused at Sarah Jessica Parker's character choices. They could have been overlooked easily if the writing had been funnier/made sense holding true to her original character, but it was hard to watch at most times. What happened to being a clueless at most times?

    All in all, and without nitpicking every little thing I didn't enjoy in the sequel, the second time around has not intrigued me even a bit as the original has. I don't believe this is just the point some make as "the sequel is never better than the original", it could have been close at least!
  • Maeve43 - 19 March 2023
    An unnecessary sequel.
    I love the first movie. It is corny and grand and zany and heartwarming and yes I definitely tear up at the end. The original is a staple replay at Halloween. It is perfection. So why did they make this movie? I have nothing at all against Bette or Kathy or SJP, but I don't understand why they agreed to do this. This movie wasn't horrible terrible, but it wasn't good either. I have nothing bad to say about the young newcomers, this was not their fault. The story was just meh, but the writing was gawd awful. The jokes all felt forced and largely fell flat. The one bright light in this half a$$ed mess of an updated "sequel" was the young actress who played a younger Winifred. Taylor Henderson did a bang up job of doing Bette as Winifred and she is the main thing I remember about this movie. Only watched it the one time, and I'll most likely never watch it again.
  • paulclaassen - 23 November 2022
    New World. Same Story. Just not as good.
    'Hocus Pocus 2' follows on 'Hocus Pocus' from back in 1993. The most amazing thing about this sequel is the fact the original cast (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy) return as witches Winifred, Sarah and Mary - and they don't look a day older! Maybe they, too, found the fountain of youth by sucking children's souls - or maybe its thanks to good plastic surgeons!

    It was good seeing them here again, but unfortunately I have several issues with 'Hocus Pocus 2'. This didn't feel like a continuation of the story. Instead, it felt like a modernized remake so it could appeal to the new generation. One of the characters even remarks "New World. Same Story." And this is exactly what 'Hocus Pocus 2' felt like.

    The only thing I found really interesting - and adding to the premise - was the back story of the three Sanderson sisters from when they were teenagers - before they became witches. This was back in Salem in 1653. It also tells how they found the Spellbook.

    The film then jumps to present time, Halloween. We meet friends Becca and Izzy, and Cassie - whom I couldn't really place. It wasn't clear whether the three of them once were best friends, with Cassie now sort of having broken the bond between them. If this was indeed the case, there's no defined reason for this. A mutual romance interest perhaps? I found Cassie a very underdeveloped character. Her Dad, simply known as Mayor (because he is the town's mayor), plays a much more pivotal role. The Sanderson sisters mistake him for Reverend Treske from back in 1653, whom they view as their enemy. I rather enjoyed Tony Hale as Mayor, who served as the film's comic relief - along with Gilbert (Sam Richardson). With Becca turning 16, there's similarities between her and Winifred, but I won't spoil it here for you.

    'Hocus Pocus 2' takes a nostalgic ride on everything that made the original film a success, and adds modern flavour. The events and even the dialogue are very similar to the first film. Now throw in ideas from 'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' and add Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and violas, you have 'Hocus Pocus 2'!

    Nothing here felt original. It lacks the magic and exciting adventure elements of the original film. Sadly, the humour was also more stupid than funny. This is a totally unnecessary sequel, which I probably won't remember anyway.

    Would I watch it again? No.
  • aravindkamath - 13 November 2022
    Unworthy Disney Movie
    This movies is so boring, Its niether good for kids nor likeable by the adults. Same day I watched movie "School of Good and Evil 2022." A Netflix movie based on same tone as the "Hocus Focus 2 2022". But former is the clear winner. "School of Good An Evil" Should have been the Disney movie by its quality of storyline and presentation it had. Anyway this means disney started producing crappy movies and other OTT platform such as Amazon Prime Videos and Netflix started working on some quality scripts. We can see the changes finally.

    Hocus Focus Ratings

    Storyline 1/10 Dialogue 1/10 Visual effects 1/10 Cinematography 1/10.

    Singing & Acting 1/10

    A honorable mention

    Whitney Peak 7/10. (She was the only thing, I liked in this movie, But her score is excluded from weighted average.)

    Dont waste your time on this movie, Just go and watch "School of Good and Evil."
  • grimaldarumble - 2 November 2022
    Shockingly bad.
    How in the world Disney had access to the brilliant three actresses (Including Bette Midler) to play the Sanderson witches again and gave us this train wreck, I'll never know. It is not the fault of the three actresses. The movie is so strictly p.c. That it's horrible. Also, basically all the characters in the movie are a minority except the evil witches. Why were the original characters not brought back?? We all expected they'd be the grown-ups with children. The entire movie is so p.c. That even the jokes are not funny. I'm not sure why Disney thinks people cannot take a joke. We all love the original Hocus Pocus so why would a decent second movie offend us. After hoping for a sequel for thirty years, we get an absolute unwatchable mess. This movie is plagued with a bad script, bad acting, bad EVERYTHING. I made an account just to write this review. The movie is that disapointing.