Okay, I know I said that I was not going to watch Hocus Pocus 2 in the Hocus Pocus review I wrote the other day, I know I said you should avoid it too. However I watched the film with someone that was rather curious as to how terrible it may be, and I caved in and agreed to watch it with them. However, having seen Hocus Pocus 2 on Disney+, I still stand by my prior statement: you should not watch this film if you have seen the first film. While the film could have been far worse, it ultimately offers nothing, and suffers from the usual reboot and franchise sequel that we have grown to despise from Hollywood over the last decade.
Hocus Pocus 2 is a film that aims to pull on your nostalgia of the first film, whole shoehorning in the usual expected elements of a modern Hollywood big franchise film that results in the original creation getting little respect, being pulled from the grave much like the witches of the first film, forced into existence purely by name as the near two hour film attempts to justify that existence. The result is something not worthy of your time, and certainly very forgettable and riddled with issues. I found myself noticing the film's many issues, noticing how it copied the same structure as the first film in attempt to remind you of the first.
You won't be missing out by not watching this film, but still, I will attempt to avoid writing major spoilers, but some may still appear going forward from this point on.
Hocus Pocus 2
Immediately I was thrown into a narrative that was painfully obvious. One that I managed to guess within the first 5 minutes of the film, and for the duration of it from that point on I was hoping the film would surprise and take a different direction; though Hocus Pocus 2 pertains to the familiar reboot bait of passing down the torch from one generation to the next in a sense, though with its own minor little bit expected twist that you will see coming miles away. Our protagonists are three teenage girls living within the town of Salem, the same location that our trio of witches once roamed in the first film. Though this film offers some slight exposition in the form of displaying the witches in their youth, the tale of how the three came together and rejected the status quo regarding witchcraft. The exposition that displays more context regarding the three witches wasn't a bad idea, I did enjoy that it took the direction of showing us more of their lives and giving them a more human connection despite their cruel witch ways.
Though the film clings to this idea of portraying the three witches as some wholesome trio even though they're attempting to cause harm and destruction over the course of Halloween night. Pulled back into existence by a fan of the witches that tricks some teenagers into lighting a candle that again revives them. These teenagers thus spending a portion of the night tricking the witches into believing they are not children, and introducing them into the modern world. Similar to the first film in the same regard that the witches slowly discover modern life, but not to the point where it takes up a large amount of time. In Hocus Pocus 2, it clings to this idea for quite some time. Somewhat holding some laughs. Truthfully, the comedic moments are far from the film's weakness. These are some quite well and sparingly without feeling unfunny or too forced as one might expect. Especially with the possibility of pop culture references and moments that will certainly become dated and irrelevant within a few years; that doesn't feel like it is the case so much here.
The biggest problem comes from it's just lazy narrative and characters. Of which are teenage girls but void of any personality. We don't really see any context behind them, unlike the first film which does introduce us to our main character which is a new family to the area, one that is struggling to settle in and finds themselves caught up in in something far greater than they could've ever imagined. Instead we don't really get any information on the characters and there's nothing to really care for. The moments with the main characters in just felt empty, very bland and forced in a manner that seemed like typical Disney and their poor casting. This fell into the narrative too as the film mentioned certain characters and slight backstory that was meant to serve as context but felt more like an attempt at story structure to set something up later on; to which there were attempts but again, fell very flat and ultimately were not anything to care for.
As the film progresses things seemingly just happen, slowly falling in line somehow despite nobody really doing anything. There are no high tensions or moments to care for. We get the same references and moments that are copied from the first film which takes up some of the screen time, of course done with less soul and cheaper production quality. Backgrounds that were clearly a set in a warehouse and lit far too bright, moons that seemed far too big with no directional lighting sense. This location becoming used more and more throughout the film out of what seemed like laziness after the film had exhausted its ideas and copied moments from the first. This is not just a result of poor casting and poor writing. The film just didn't really need a reason to exist, and it does exist by force, as the film insists on throwing in modern political issues.
Your typical sequel reboot
Disney loves to reboot and create sequels these days. They love to take loved creations and use their names to turn them into zombies in attempt to produce new Disney+ subscribers all while maintaining an ESG score that makes greedy investors happy. Hocus Pocus was yet another one of those creations. Where everything is thrown into a modern look with a modern more supposedly ethical casting, even if none of it really works.
It's incredibly forgettable and pertains to the typical structure of a disappointing blockbuster. An idea of passing down the torch to a younger generation while offering nothing all that spectacular in terms of visuals. Bland directing and cinematography, a weak story that doesn't really go anywhere, and just not worth your time given the runtime it holds. Perhaps a decent flick to throw on over Halloween and not pay attention to with your family perhaps, but if you are to go into it: don't expect a whole lot of entertainment and substance.
Though I can admit that the film was absolutely carried by its original cast which made a return for the film. The moments with them are the most enjoyable, and feel still rather authentic to their characters even going into their older ages. I did enjoy how they portrayed themselves; slightly different and more mature in how they acted, but still managing to pull off the general characteristics we saw from them in their original performances. Everyone else in it was disappointing.
