Hocus Pocus 2 Review

Spoiler Free

The 'Gothic Golden Girls' are back!

As I said in last week's column, any time I see Sam Richardson's name attached to a project I get nervous the vibe will be cheesy and to some extent, I was right.  His character, 'Gilbert the Great' may have been a fan of the Sanderson Sisters, but I was not of his.  Nothing personal towards Sam, I just feel casting an unknown for that role would have been a better choice.

Messing with any original is tricky territory, but aside from a few things - which I'll get into - Hocus Pocus 2 was better than I expected.

Before we enter present day Salem, we're taken back to 17th-century Salem where the sisters are not yet wicked.  Fear not, this review is spoiler free so I won't get into all the details, but just know the little actors who play the young sisters understood the assignment.

I liked the idea of giving viewers a peek into not just how, but why they became wicked witches.  Again... nothing against Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso is one of my favs!) but she felt like a plant - similar to Sam - and we could have done without her character entirely.  Hot take, but the book could have found the sisters by itself.