Though the original “Hocus Pocus” didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it was first released, it did gain a big enough following that, 29 years later, “Hocus Pocus 2” (2022, directed by Anne Fletcher) was released for streaming on Disney+.

The story’s plot takes place 29 years after the first film. After two highschool girls, Becca (Whitney Peak) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo), who are into witchcraft, try to hatch a spell to get better grades at school. They accidentally resummon the Sanderson sister witches, all of which (no pun intended) were reprised by the original actors.

Now the witches are back and are here to cause mayhem, or in this film’s case, light nuisances at best. 

While the first film wasn’t exactly a masterpiece, it was still enjoyable to watch and had some great make up and performances to really elevate it. So, suffice it to say, one wouldn’t expect to come out of the sequel of “Hocus Pocus” disappointed, but here we are.

Starting with the positives, the Sanderson sisters are just as funny and entertaining to watch as the last film. And there are some emotional scenes (specifically near the end) where the audience does feel bad for them.

Something that’s an improvement from the first film is the character of Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), who was barely a character in the original, now has some funny moments and something resembling a character arc.

But aside from that, and some decent jokes from characters that are not the Sanderson sisters, the rest of the film ranges from passable to bad.

To start off, anyone who’s not the witches, are either unlikeable, annoying, or underdeveloped as characters. 

The two main leads, Becca and Izzy, while not terrible people in most scenes, do come off needlessly judgemental and mean in several others. More specifically whenever their mutual friend Cassie (Lilia Buckingham) is involved.

To give the proper backstory, Cassie used to hang out with them all the time, but after getting a boyfriend who’s not always the nicest to them, Cassie hasn’t hung out with them as much. 

Throughout most of the film, Becca and Izzy treat Cassie like she committed some great betrayal, but really all she’s done is date a guy that they don’t like and consequently doesn’t hangout with them as often.

This wouldn’t be a problem if the film portrayed it as if they were in the wrong or if both sides were, but it doesn’t. The film wants the audience to side with Becca and Izzy, but the exact opposite happens, they come off so petty that the audience hopes that Cassie gets some better friends by the end of the film.

Because of this, when the end of the film comes around and it implies that this trio of friends are, in a way, the new Sanderson sisters, but they’re #notmysandersonsisters.

The film also makes the mistake of trying to make the Sanderson sisters sympathetic by saying they were “misunderstood” several times throughout. But that doesn’t really work when their goal is to feast on the souls of children in order to make themselves immortal.

The attempt to make the witches sympathetic combined with the unlikeable protagonists, makes a watcher root for the Sandersons and wants them to succeed in continuing in their crusade in eating the souls of children.

Another problem is that the film is toothless compared to the original. While one wouldn’t call the first film gritty in any sense of the word, it had just enough adult jokes to keep the older people in the audience laughing. The sleaziest the sequel gets is replacing some curse words with words centered around Halloween (like “the witches are back.” Oh how scandalous, someone fetch me a fainting pillow.) 

The humor is also not as strong as the first flick, as most jokes are either not that funny, just references to the first movie, or just recycles jokes from the original.

But the worst part about “Hocus Pocus 2” is the wasted potential. There are some cool and funny ideas that could be brought up in a sequel. 

For instance, how would have the town of Salem changed because of the rampage the sisters went on 29 years ago? A modern day Salem acting like Salem of the 1600s, constantly paranoid and afraid of witchcraft, could be a cool concept.

Apparently not though, as they still treat the Sanderson sisters like local celebrities, and don’t really believe in their magic aside from a handful of individuals.

That is a hard pill to swallow after the events of the first film, because one would think that most people would at least raise an eyebrow at the events of the first film. Afterall, the Sanderson sisters are many things, but subtle they are not. 

It leads a person to think that everyone in town remembers the Halloween of ‘93 as “that one weird Halloween where most of the adults danced all night and all the children congregated to the old Sanderson sisters witch house in a trance” or they all seemingly have amnesia about the night’s events.

In the end, “Hocus Pocus 2” is a disappointment, and that’s a real shame. There are some good ideas and fun performances, but that’s all it has.