Hocus Pocus 2

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Marce82
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

Post by Marce82 »

Holy crap! I DID notice that thing about Kathy Najimi's mouth... but I thought maybe I was wrong! How was it justified??

I also forgot to mention the lighting was very odd... this looked like the brightest lit night in history.

And I agree, D82: there was less of a sense of danger. When the witches are resurrected, the teenagers seem pretty unphased... not scared at all, and they immediately know how to trick the witches. It's not like it took them a minute to figure it out. And also... there was no CHILD in this one. An 8 year old is much more vulnerable than a teenager.

I don't know... a lot of things seemed off. Again, it wasn't terrible....

And as much as I like the original, that one also felt like a Disney Channel movie... but with a little more pedigree.

Did you guys notice the billboard for Mayor features the house from the original?

I still think it would have been more interesting for them to bring back one of the three kids from the original and have the witches try to get revenge...
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D82
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

Post by D82 »

It seems audiences are not liking the film as much as critics, though there's not a big difference between both scores:

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Source: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hocus_pocus_2

Marce82 wrote: Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:31 pm Holy crap! I DID notice that thing about Kathy Najimi's mouth... but I thought maybe I was wrong! How was it justified??
You did? Wow, you're very eagle-eyed! The justification was explained on the link I posted. I guess it's also something easy to miss in the film:
Still, Najimy says they explain it in the film, anyway: "We can justify it because there's a scene at the beginning where Winnie slaps me, and my mouth goes to the other side, and then she slaps me again and it goes to the other side, and sticks."
Source: https://ew.com/movies/hocus-pocus-2-kat ... ther-side/
Marce82 wrote: Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:31 pm And also... there was no CHILD in this one. An 8 year old is much more vulnerable than a teenager.
It's true, I think that's also part of the problem. In the first film we're worried about Thora Birch's character all the time, especially after what happens to Thackery Binx's sister at the beginning of the film.
Marce82 wrote: Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:31 pm And as much as I like the original, that one also felt like a Disney Channel movie... but with a little more pedigree.
That's a good way to describe it. But I agree with a critic who said that the sequel makes it look like Citizen Kane. :lol:
Marce82 wrote: Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:31 pm Did you guys notice the billboard for Mayor features the house from the original?
I didn't. I've checked it and it's true. It's Max's house from the original, right? Speaking of the billboard, one of the things I did like about the movie apart from the witches was Tony Hale as the mayor. I found him quite funny.
Marce82 wrote: Fri Sep 30, 2022 9:31 pm I still think it would have been more interesting for them to bring back one of the three kids from the original and have the witches try to get revenge...
On the one hand, I appreciate they tried to do something different, but the kids from the original were quite good, especially Thora Birch. I agree it would've been nice to see them again here. They could still bring them back for a third film, though.
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Sotiris
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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‘Hocus Pocus 2': Here’s What Thora Birch Would’ve Liked Dani’s Story to Be Had She Returned
https://www.thewrap.com/hocus-pocus-2-w ... irch-idea/

‘Hocus Pocus 2’ Stars Reveal Their Hopes for a Third Movie
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/hocu ... 235386697/

How ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ Revamped the ‘Iconic’ Look of the Sanderson Sisters 30 Years Later
https://variety.com/video/hocus-pocus-c ... n-sisters/

Hocus Pocus 2 director Anne Fletcher explains why she included Garry, Penny Marshall scene
https://ew.com/movies/hocus-pocus-2-dir ... all-scene/

Hocus Pocus 2 cast reveals what Thora Birch would've done as Dani in planned sequel return
https://ew.com/movies/hocus-pocus-2-cas ... urn-plans/

Hocus Pocus 2 cast explains Winnie's shocking end scene, new coven's future: 'They can always come back'
https://ew.com/movies/hocus-pocus-2-end ... interview/
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Disney's Divinity
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

Post by Disney's Divinity »

SPOILERS

Well, I was going to say, and this isn't a knock on Najimy--it was probably necessary because of the script, I don't know?--Najimy in general seemed off as Mary. I mean, in the first, I always thought of Mary as very, uh...dense? I know Sarah is also dumb in a bimbo kind of way, but Mary barks like a dog and in general acts almost like an animal. :lol: So when the Witches were revived and in the pharmacy, it sort of took me aback when Mary confronted the girl about trying to sneak off or whatever it was. She seemed way more lucid and well-spoken than she should be. :lol: But even Sarah seemed a little smarter and less timid. To me, she was a non-entity in the first movie, so the few times she speaks in a serious manner here was really weird, too. :lol:

In general, I think the movie works in its own context. The Witches and the main girls almost feel like reflections of one another. The main girls have a rift between them, but want to be friends with one another again. And the film focuses on the Witches' relationship to one another as sisters much more--Winnie trying to keep the villagers from separating them at the beginning, the Older Witch who gave them the book commenting on how hard it is to be alone, then of course the scene where Mary and Sarah die first for us to get Winnie's reaction. And that kinda worked because you can kind of buy they care about one another. My only criticism was, like I said, the film could've been a little funnier is all.

I think a plot where they had been revived and decided to find Danielle from the first film only to find she's grown up with a daughter of her own (who would then be their target instead) could've been fun. After all, Winnie hated her much more than the other two by the end of the first film. The Witches could've survived considering all the other children they had by that point, but Winifred wanted her specifically. Yeah, there was a bit less danger. The first film opens with some pretty serious stuff despite the comedy--one girl is killed, the Witches are hanged, Binx is pretty much separated from his family for a hundred years or whatever.
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Vlad
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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I liked everything about it, except the new kids who brought the witches back. They were pretty much the worst things about the movie. The Sanderson sisters were a delight, as always.
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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I agree with Marce82, D82, Divinity, and Vlad. The new kids acted way more Disney Channel and less like the more realistic, original film's kids, and were the worst things. I also thought anyone but the witches and Billy were awful, actually. Except Mike, he was freaking adorable, being all dumb and cute! I loved the backstory and yes, the modern day kids were reflections of the Sandersons, which was cool. I didn't like that the witches didn't get their book from "the devil himself" as in the orginal legend, and that's kinda the whole problem with the film: the witches aren't really evil and causing fear this time. I mean, I loved what they did, what with the older witch giving the book, and all her lines, and a lot of the movie, but, it was a departure from the original, the whole less evil and scary thing, that made this film not quite as a good as the first, aside also from smaller budget and less likeable modern day characters. I always thought Sarah was such an entity in the first as the stupidest one, lol. Mary was kind of the "nice" one in the original. I always thought Winnie was the most evil even though SJP said she thought she, herself, was. At least Winnie was the leader and the angriest and perhaps the one who cared about her sisters' bond the most, which was true in this sequel, too. Anyway, this was close to the original for me in how good it was, but it just didn't have the same magic. I think I'll end up just watching the original every Halloween. This sequel was too different. I'll only watch it again if others want to.
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Vlad
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

Post by Vlad »

You’re right, Duster. The kids’ acting was too Disney Channel :lol:
:lol: To be honest, I can see myself watching this on Halloween every year, because even though the girls were so annoying, I can skip the part right after the prologue until they bring back the witches. I mean, the acting was so cringe. I guess, this was the first time I was rooting for the villain. :lol: :lol:
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

Post by Disney's Divinity »

Personally, I liked the main girl. The other two were forgettable though, especially the one who's distant with the other two. Either way, the movie didn't give the new girls much of anything to do, there was no real "fight" in this between them and the Witches, which would've helped define them more.

But if I'm being honest, most of the time when I'm watching the original, I skim past the kids' parts in that one, too... It's really just Bette Midler and Najimy that made that film for me. *shrug* I'd definitely watch this one every year, too, if Freeform starts to air it in the years to come. I'm not sure I'll buy it on Blu-ray though (if that even becomes available), unless it's via DisneyMovieInsiders perhaps.
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

Post by Toky »

Just seen it…

Not really a big fan of it…some parts were nice and looked great and not cheap at all (beginning etc)….other parts were quite childish/spoof-like…and looked extremely cheap made(flying scenes look really bad)

The acting was Ok imo, the pacing is often just off and a lot of things feel rushed(the whole part where the witches came back and went to wallgreens was just so rushed…not to mention the plotholes: like how is it that they suddenly dont care about all the children they pass by on their way there??)

Seeing this gives me a bad feeling about Disemchanted, simce Disney clearly has very low standards for Disney+ original content….
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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I quite enjoyed this! SPOILERS ahead:

I think a lot of people wear nostalgia goggles for the original (and I'm definitely one of those) and aren't realizing that a lot of the "issues" with this movie are super present in the original as well. The teenagers' acting is kind of bland and cheesy? Ummm...did we watch the same original? The teens and especially Danni in the original are super corny. Likeable for sure, but let's not act like they were Oscar-worthy performances. I can't think of many ways that a Hocus Pocus sequel in 2022 could have been much more than this. We got the token 2022 references, I particularly liked the phone selfie with the filters gag.

I liked how the sisters being brought back was justified with Gilbert being a Sanderson sisters obsessive. Made it a little less predictable than "oh hey here's another random magical candle". Lots of fun new Sanderson sister's power and lore (the hour glass, etc.)

Mostly it was just wonderful to have the three original actresses back playing their roles. They weren't sidelined, they were in pretty much all of the movie once they were resurrected. That's what I assume most of us wanted at the very least, and that's what we got. A campy fun time, perfectly in the spirit of the original. I'm also seeing some take issue with the very slight Winifred redemption at the end. I don't really see it as out of character. This movie (and the original for that matter) took time to show us that Winifred really did depend on her sisters, even if she thought they were idiots. I think her choice at the end gave justice to that without making her a "good guy."

My idea for Hocus Pocus 3: A modern Salem teen (probably not any from the sequel) finds the book or some magical artifact that transports him back in time to Salem in the 1600s. That would give us a reversed fish out of water story (a modern teen in the 1600s rather than 1600s witches in the modern age) and allow the original trio to play their true ages before the opening of the first movie where they regain their youth.
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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The kids' peformances in the original were not Oscar-worthy, of course, but they were way, way better than the kids in the sequel. Dani herself was a much better actress than all three new girls. The kids here were kinda cringey. I kept rolling my eyes when they formed that friendship bubble thingy against the witches. :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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Lord-of-sith, your story idea is cool!
Vlad Sicoe wrote: Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:18 am The kids' peformances in the original were not Oscar-worthy, of course, but they were way, way better than the kids in the sequel. Dani herself was a much better actress than all three new girls. The kids here were kinda cringey. I kept rolling my eyes when they formed that friendship bubble thingy against the witches. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Oh, I completely agree. Thora Birch is a star. But, did I miss a part? I thought they circled them in salt, which keeps "bad things" in, so it kept the Witches in? Did they do something else like have the main girl's magic form a friendship bubble?
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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That's how I understood it.
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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Disney Duster wrote: Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:25 am Lord-of-sith, your story idea is cool!
Vlad Sicoe wrote: Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:18 am The kids' peformances in the original were not Oscar-worthy, of course, but they were way, way better than the kids in the sequel. Dani herself was a much better actress than all three new girls. The kids here were kinda cringey. I kept rolling my eyes when they formed that friendship bubble thingy against the witches. :lol: :lol: :lol:
Oh, I completely agree. Thora Birch is a star. But, did I miss a part? I thought they circled them in salt, which keeps "bad things" in, so it kept the Witches in? Did they do something else like have the main girl's magic form a friendship bubble?
Becca was able to create a forcefield to stop the witches from zapping them. She was developing powers as a witch, as it was established a witch gains her powers on her 16th birthday. The spell book implied that magic is stronger with multiple people behind it, so she used her friends to strengthen the shield. It was not clear if her friends had powers as well, though it's heavily implied a witch can influence her coven to also have powers if she is strong enough. As Winifred became more powerful herself in the movie, he sisters started to gain powers they didn't have before (the lighting bolts). I took Becca's friends helping her as they were able to use Becca's powers together to make them stronger.
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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I have to say that overall I liked it. I think it suffers most in that 30 years have passed since the original and storytelling has changed. If they tried to make a film just like the original that would also feel strange to us now. That's not to say I found that it had some shortcomings and just some weird out-of-place elements, but overall I'm satisfied.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Things I didn't like - The overall filming. I don't know how to explain it, but I thought angles and specifically the sweeping shots were off throughout the film. I don't know if they were purposely trying to avoid zoom in shots to help hide their age, but it seems like we were pretty far from the sisters at times I thought we should be zoomed in. I liked Gilbert's purpose in the film, but not how he was written. He was just too silly of a character IMO, considering the role he played. I mean, he just tricked these children, who trust him/look up to him and loyal customers into bringing back 3 deadly witches...I think he should've faced worse consequences than given a side quest where he goofs off with Billy and maybe even been the big bad of the film in leu of the Sanderson Sisters.

Things I thought were "meh" - I liked the songs, but not where they were. The song right at resurrection felt forced and very unnatural, and I liked the placement of the second song, but it again felt forced to be like "I Put a Spell..." from the original, which it overall wasn't. The humor was sparse, but there were good jokes. The danger was there for moments, but never felt real or to have severe consequences. Kind of like when a sibling says "I'm gonna kill you", they might pick on you but you know they wont really harm you (at least I hope not).

Things that I liked - I was shocked at how much I liked the Sanderson Sisters as children. I think those young ladies killed it as young Winnie, Mary, and Sara. I love the original trio, but I would be comfortable with Disney making future movies or even a Disney+ series with these three giving us more of the mischief they got into growing up. I also liked that Sara and Mary gained some of the powers Winnie has, I don't know why it shocked me they didn't originally, but I liked the addition. I also liked the "mother" witch addition to the lore.
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

Post by Disney Duster »

Thanks lord-of-sith, I forgot that part. I need to watch it again. I will sometime before Halloween is over.

Singerguy04, yup, it was like there was no danger. The most dangerous part seemed to be the big fan and his hour glass dilemma, and then only really in beginning.
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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Hocus Pocus 2 Is The #1 Film Premiere On Disney+ Domestically To Date
https://dmedmedia.disney.com/news/disne ... mestically
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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Sotiris wrote: Tue Oct 11, 2022 1:07 pm Hocus Pocus 2 Is The #1 Film Premiere On Disney+ Domestically To Date
https://dmedmedia.disney.com/news/disne ... mestically
It has now been revealed it's also Nielsen's biggest opening weekend ever for a streaming movie:

'Hocus Pocus 2' Beats 'Encanto' for Nielsen Charts' Biggest Streaming Movie Debut Record
https://people.com/movies/hocus-pocus-2 ... n-history/
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

Post by Disney's Divinity »

I'm not surprised, Hocus Pocus 2 is a sequel to a beloved holiday film and sequels always do better than original films. The good thing is this pretty much guarantees a third film. But, you know, I actually wouldn't mind if this was a series that just kept going with a 4, 5, a spin-off with the child actors, a Disney+ series, who knows. :lol: I think it would work if all three actors were down for it, which would probably be the thing most likely to stop that from happening. But I dunno, Bette Midler made those interesting comments about how she always wanted to be part of a "franchise" that has multiple iterations like this. :P
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Re: Hocus Pocus 2

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Original Hocus Pocus stars reveal their thoughts on the sequel
https://ew.com/movies/original-hocus-po ... ts-sequel/

Original Hocus Pocus stars reveal whether they'd return for potential third film
https://ew.com/movies/hocus-pocus-stars ... hird-film/

Hocus Pocus 2 originally included a Max cameo and cut scene with bullies Jay and Ice
https://ew.com/movies/hocus-pocus-2-cut ... ce-cameos/

Hocus Pocus 2 originally had Thora Birch's Dani battling Sanderson Sisters with 'arsenal of anti-magic'
https://ew.com/movies/hocus-pocus-2-dan ... storyline/

Hocus Pocus series writer reveals where she thinks Max and Allison characters are today
https://ew.com/movies/hocus-pocus-where ... are-today/
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