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HOCUS POCUS 2 MOVIE REVIEW
It’s becoming more and more common these days for sequels to be produced decades after the classic original movie came out, and it’s also become common for those much-too-late continuations to be so-so to just plain bad. So, when Hocus Pocus 2 was announced as a Disney+ release just shy of three decades after the first, it was a safe bet that it would be lackluster. But we can all hope and dream it’ll land in the good camp with the very few sequels that have managed to recapture the magic, can’t we? Or we fans of the original could at least perform some dark magic in order to produce an actually great film. In this installment of what will likely be only the beginning of the HPU, twenty-nine years after the Sanderson sisters were resurrected and destroyed, teenagers Becca and Izzy are preparing to celebrate both Halloween and Becca’s sixteenth birthday. They turn down a party invitation from their estranged friend Cassie, who is more interested in her boyfriend (and bully), Mike. Becca and Izzy visit a magic shop (formerly the Sanderson cottage) run by Gilbert (Sam Richardson), who gifts Becca a certain black candle for her annual birthday ritual. Becca and Izzy light the candle and, as there is a full moon and the girls are both virgins, the candle resurrects the Sanderson sisters once again! From there, some familiar and new hijinks ensue. Harmoni, Kimberly, Dogget, and T.C. gather over the bubbling cauldron of critique to cast their thoughts about Hocus Pocus 2, and there isn’t a consensus here about this film (OR the original).
DIRECTED BY: Anne Fletcher
STARRING: Bette Midler, Taylor Paige Henderson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Juju Brener, Kathy Najimy, Nina Kitchen, Sam Richardson, Jaylin Pryor, Doug Jones, Austin K. Ryan, Whitney Peak, Belissa Escobedo, Lilia Buckingham, Tony Hale, Hannah Waddingham, Froy Gutierrez, Ginger Minj, Kornbread Jeté, Kahmora Hall, Amanda Shepherd, Garry Marshall, Penny Marshall
YOUR REVIEWERS
T.C. De Witt (Screener Squad)
T.C. De Witt is a multi-awarded writer/director originally from Wisconsin and now based in Los Angeles. His life has been devoted to the arts since he was a child. He’s been a stage performer, playwright, stand-up comic, film and television actor, radio DJ, podcaster published author, recorded musician, and comic writer/illustrator. He is now a professional screenwriter and has been thriving for the past decade, regularly offering his talents to production studios in LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, and internationally in Sydney and Poland. He’s provided content for Amazon Prime, Netflix, and several YouTube partners. His films have screened internationally, and his stageplays have been performed across the country. In the last ten years, he has directed 57 films, 23 episodes of his series The One Minute Rewatch, 300+ episodes of podcasts, and his multi-award-winning short film Screen: Righter screened at the Festival de Cannes in 2016. He has released two feature films, The Princess Knight and A Christmas Sunset. He thrives on collaboration and the thrill of sharing stories in all forms.
Harmoni Anderson (Screener Squad, Highly Suspect Reviews, Unstabletop Gaming)
Harmoni is a mermaid-haired, millennial, rum drinking, Section 31, Slytherin (who’s divorced J.K. Rowling) preschool/nursery teacher and multi genre geek who also loves all things film, tv, fashion, makeup, and an embarrassingly huge BTS stan. Like really embarrassing. As in, mention them and then sit back and watch the insanity. Harmoni likes being able to game and talk movies/TV with people that aren’t 3 feet tall or all that demanding of her. Plus she can curse at us and not get fired….so bonus!
Kimberly Brown (Highly Suspect Reviews)
Kimberly wants to live in a world filled with blue telephone boxes, speedsters, and ice dragons but through an ironic twist of fate, she’s stuck in this reality where these wondrous things only exist on page or film. Kim’s perpetual desire to consume sci-fi and fantasy media as a teen led her to the study of illustration/design at university to better understand its creation. Currently an Austin transplant, when she’s not wearing her critic hat you can find her pretending to like hiking, fielding questions about her hair or maybe even enjoying a local brew at the nearest dive bar.
Danny Dogget (Screener Squad)
Hey persons, it’s your favorite canine Dogget! As many of you know, I don’t identify as a critic as much as a classy shock jock. That being said, I do my best to give all of you a well-balanced review filled with my true opinions and hopefully a few laughs. You can occasionally find me on other persons podcast like Mission Impodible (that’ll be 10 dollars Nathan). For the most part, you can find me doing reviews on Oneofus.net.
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