Review: 'Hocus Pocus 2' is a funny and engaging movie, a far cry from the dull original

Maybe there is magic in the world, if a terrible movie like 1993’s “Hocus Pocus” can inspire a sequel 29 years later, “Hocus Pocus 2,” that has more laughs and heart than the original ever hoped to have.

Yes, I know the original is beloved in some quarters, a slumber-party staple for kids whose parents wouldn’t let them watch real scary movies around Halloween. I was not one of them; I checked my original review (I’ve been doing this for a long time) and I gave it one-and-a-half stars, with a little bit of charity because I enjoy Bette Midler in pretty much anything. Before settling in on “Hocus Pocus 2” the other night, I watched the first movie again, just to see if I had mellowed — and, nope, it’s still awful, a cheaply produced affair that wastes the talent of Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy.

So how did the sequel manage to leap over my nonexistent expectations and land squarely in “hey, this is pretty good” territory? Let’s start with the fact that Midler, Parker and Najimy have leaned into the joke more this time. They play the again-resurrected Sanderson sisters knowing they’re in a ridiculous Halloween movie, and they enjoy themselves a lot more. My favorite sight gag is when the Sandersons enter a house and are looking for something; when Midler’s Winifred says “spread out,” it’s Parker’s dim Sarah Sanderson who takes her literally and starts doing the splits.

A lot of the credit for the sequel’s success goes to director Anne Fletcher (“The Proposal,” “Dumplin’”), who latches onto the humor and the sisterly empowerment of the script by Jen D’Angelo (who shares story credit with David Kirschner, who co-wrote the original, and Blake Harris). 

That empowerment isn’t held by the Sanderson sisters, but by the teen friends who inadvertently bring them back from the dead: Magic obsessed Becca (Whitney Peak, who starred in the “Gossip Girl” reboot) and Izzy (Melissa Escobedo), who are currently feuding with their friend Cassie (Lilia Buckingham) because she’s got a dorky boyfriend, Matt (From Gutierrez), who bullies Becca and Izzy. 

The set-up is also funny, a prologue in 17th century Salem that shows us how the young Sanderson sisters became witches, with a strategic cameo from Hannah Waddingham (“Ted Lasso”). The prologue also introduces the Sandersons’ tormentor, Rev. Traske, whose descendant in 2022 is Salem’s mayor and Cassie’s father — both played with droll wit by Tony Hale.

Also throw in Sam Richardson (“Veep”) as a magic-shop owner who get in over his head by the Sandersons, and Doug Jones reprising his role as the zombie Billy Butcherson, setting the record straight about his puritan “romance” with Winifred.

With that cast, and a script that’s only partly reverential to the original, and “Hocus Pocus 2” turns out to be worth a look — even if you didn’t suffer through the original.

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‘Hocus Pocus 2’

★★★

Starts streaming Friday, September 30, on Disney+. Rated PG for action, macabre/suggestive humor and some language. Running time: 104 minutes.