Hocus Pocus 2 is Everything a 90s Kid Could Hope For

Every Friday night in our house is family movie night and pizza night, and it’s a complete coin toss whether or not we’ll agree on the movie and where the pizza comes from without tears being shed. And I mean that quite literally. If you have more than one child I’m sure you can back me up on this.

For example. last year saw the Disney Plus release of Muppets Haunted Mansion, and I used my executive privilege as Dad to choose it for an October family movie night. Both kids were bawling about this decision. I’m not sure they knew why they were bawling, but they were nevertheless very distraught. But, in a twist I’m sure you never saw coming, they enjoyed themselves quite a bit and now consider it one of their favorite Halloween movies.

Fast forward one year, and Disney Plus has released another Halloween movie for families. Our most recent movie night just so happened to correspond perfectly with the release of Hocus Pocus 2 - the long-awaited sequel to the 1993 original that 90s kids tend to hold with quite a bit of reverence.

Billy Butcherson makes his long-awaited return. - © Disney Plus

As is my wont, I once again made use of my executive privilege - for the first time since the now beloved Muppets Haunted Mansion - and chose Hocus Pocus 2 for our viewing pleasure. After all, I am a 90s kids, and I have quite a bit of nostalgia for those silly/spooky Sanderson sisters.

And do you think my kids learned their lesson from the infamous Muppets Haunted Mansion incident of 2021? Do you think they were ready to give this new movie a shot without any prejudgement or tears? Well, either way, you’d be half right. Our son was actually quite excited, because he’s seen Hocus Pocus before, and he was eager to see more. My 6-year-old daughter, on the other hand, caught a tragic case of the Muppets Haunted Mansion-itis.

Of course the only real question is how they felt by the end of the movie. And the funny thing is, they actually met somewhere in the middle. Our daughter enjoyed herself much more than she anticipated, and our son’s excitement was slightly dampened by the exclusion of Binx the black cat.

Becca, Cassie, and Izzy in Hocus Pocus 2 - © Disney Plus

Hocus Pocus 2 Reviews

I’ve seen many reviews panning Hocus Pocus 2, mostly followed by many commenters (probably 90s kids) saying how stupid those reviewers are. I think it was destined to be this way. The original has a true cult following. Many young adults consider it the most important and quintessential Halloween movie from their childhood, yet it has a splat rating of 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience rating of the original, however, is significantly higher at 71%.

The sequel, on the other hand, is not getting as much love from the audience score. It’s currently sitting at 56%. But, let’s get one thing straight. Whether we’re talking about the critics or the audience, this movie was simply not made for the people who are reviewing it poorly. It was made for a quite specific audience - 90s kids who love the original and now have kids they want to share it with. And I would be willing to bet most of them are pretty satisfied with the result.

Is it as good as the original? Perhaps not. But, let’s be honest - that’s not what us 90s kids were hoping for. Deep down we were hoping it wouldn’t be a dumpster fire. And, lo and behold, it is a perfectly good Halloween family movie - complete with the perfect amount of nostalgia. And that’s something we don’t get nearly enough of these days. I’d put it on par or slightly better than Spooky Buddies - an underrated Halloween film we enjoyed enough to add to our list of Halloween movies for young kids. It’s not supposed to win an Oscar, folks. It’s supposed to be good, clean Halloween entertainment for the family.

The Sanderson sisters make a hilarious visit to Walgreens. - © Disney Plus

Why We Like Hocus Pocus 2

Hocus Pocus 2 starts out with a great decision - we get a backstory on the Sanderson sisters. We get to see them as children in Salem, even before they knew they were going to be witches. I think they found great young actors to portray the famous witches, and I think it was genius to humanize the characters in this way. Building empathy for characters that spend most of the movie threatening to eat children to steal their beauty is a big ask, but they really pulled it off - and it’s actually quite sweet.

By far my favorite line in the movie happens when the witches go into Walgreens. The teenage stars of the film trick the Sanderson sisters into believing that they don’t need to eat them - because in 2022 they sell youth potions inside stores. Next thing you know, Mary is holding up a facial mask above her face and says “Look, the face of a child!” Then she takes a bite of it.

There are actually several performances and one-liners in the movie that had me laughing out loud. I quite like the long-running disagreement between Billy and Winnifred regarding their relationship. But, like any good family Halloween movie, there are also moments that the kids will find very spooky. Hocus Pocus always played that balance perfectly, and I’m happy to see that return in the sequel. The moment the black flame candle is lit and the Sanderson sisters return is actually filmed quite spookily - with a very dark scene that builds a lot of tension.

Quite frankly, I like how they handled just about everything in this sequel. They bring back Book (the spell book with the eye) and Billy Butcherson, and both of them have really great roles - both comical and actually quite endearing too. Developing any feelings or empathy for Book in particular was actually quite a surprise.

But cat lovers be warned, our only disappointment, as I mentioned before, was the lack of Binx. I’m not sure what our son was expecting, since Binx was rescued from his immortal cat form in the original. But perhaps he wanted the new black cat in this film to also be a talking black cat. The new cat doesn’t talk, nor does it have a very big role. The movie isn’t cat-less, but it is cat-light.

Book has feelings of his own in Hocus Pocus 2. - © Disney Plus

One final note I’d like to touch upon is how Hocus Pocus 2 handles the fact that it must be a virgin that lights the black flame candle. All the talk about being a virgin was actually the main reason I waited so long to show my little ones the original. And I was curious what they would say about it in the sequel.

Once again it’s pointed out nonchalantly by the owner of a magic shop that a virgin must light the black flame candle, and I thought it would be glossed over and end there. Well imagine my surprise when a kid in the audience asks “what’s a virgin?” in a very Kindergarten-Cop-style of matter-of-factness. The magic shop owner stumbles over his words and ends up giving a very non-committal, non-answer - “someone who’s never lit a candle before.”

I honestly thought this was a very funny way to handle this question that’s probably going through the heads of most kids watching the movie. And parents can choose to stick with that answer or elaborate upon it as much as they want!

Final Thoughts

I enjoyed Hocus Pocus 2 quite a bit. It was a movie I was looking forward to a lot since they announced it was being made, and I don’t feel disappointed at all. The creators both expanded the world of Hocus Pocus, and brought back many beloved details of the original. Most importantly, they even figured out a way to make us care about many characters even more than before. And I think Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Kathy Najimy absolutely killed it. Most of all we should be thankful for them.

Who would have thought that we’d be getting this treat almost a full 30 years later, and that it would be so faithful to the heart of the original? It will absolutely enter into our family Halloween rotation, and what more can you really ask for than that?