3 Thoughts After Watching ‘Hocus Pocus 2’:

1. This was never gonna match the impact of the first one, but it was still a good outing! It successfully matched the vibes and feeling of the original, and celebrated it in all the right places. The music, the jokes, the easter eggs. Not an easy feat for a follow-up 29 years later!

2. It was smart to give the soul of these films — The Sanderson Sisters — a little more backstory and, at the end, a little more heart. I understand why they opted for that than having the old cast members back — as missed as they are. And speaking of the sisters, Midler was the only one who seemed to have maintained the spirit of their character from the original. Parker and Najimy, as phenomenal as they are, seemed to approach Mary and Sarah a liiittle differently this time around.

3. I wasn’t completely impressed by the new characters. I couldn’t buy into this new trio of witches, especially when the third friend entered the fray rather late in the film. I didn’t get to know her and, ultimately, didn’t care about her story. The other two certainly weren’t terrible at all, but I can’t say they were particularly memorable. I don’t think we knew enough about them either.