Hocus Pocus 2 - Where's the original cast?

Well, you're either reading this because you are unsure about how you'll feel about the movie when you watch it, or you've already seen it and are being kind, wondering what my opinion was on the film. Beware, there are spoilers and we're gonna touch on why some of the past actors did not make an appearance in this film. 

Now that I've watched it twice in a day, I can say with confidence that, "it was alright." There were a lot of fun clever parts, the Walgreens scene in particular when the sisters are drinking the lotion and experience a selfie filter. Honestly, all the best parts of the film were with the Sanderson sisters. They held to their characters, didn't over act (I mean c'mon they're three professionals) and because they didn't overact their parts felt sincere and familiar. Sarah Jessica Parker (Sarah Sanderson) was just as dimwitted and funny, Mary (Kathy Najimy) was her raw old self and of course Bette Midler (Winifred Sanderson) nailed it!

I could've done without the forced singing. Don't get me wrong, Bette Midler is so talented and who doesn't love to see her flaunt it as Winifred, but the only inclination we get that they like to sing in the first film was their hit song "I Put A Spell On You." The songs in the new movie just felt weird, I wouldn't mind just one song, but when people comment in the film, "Oh they love the stage," I was like, "yeah, but nobody would know about it because they didn't know they were REALLY there in 1993." 

This is my only gripe, and some of the acting from the teens but we'll let that slide because this is not meant to be a serious movie, it's a sequel to a Disney classic that our nostalgia has kept us coming back to. But if you are a fan of the classic, I think you'll still like this movie and get a kick watching the sisters in the 21st century. I am curious about how super conservative moms will feel about it, as the teens in the film use witch magic. We'll just have to wait for those mommy blogs to appear.

The movie, it is definitely targeted towards a female audience. The message is about sisterhood and that there are strength in numbers. This was a fun message to tell as it brought another angle to the Sanderson sisters and a more tender one outside of just trying to be beautiful and take over Salem. I like that it has a generational sisterhood too - we see one with the literal sisters as they fight for equal grounds in the family. Then we have the teens who are experiencing a common theme of growing apart because of high school and the new dating scene. It won't leave you crying but it'll make you smile and think about your sisterhood, whatever it is. 

Now, more spoilers - only the Sanderson sisters and Billy (Doug Jones) remain from the original cast. So what happened to Max? Alison? Dani? Why didn't they join the fray? Here's what I could find.

Dani (Thora Birch) wanted to be in the film and was even slated to play a supporting role but due to scheduling conflicts couldn't make it work. I'm not sure about Max (Omri Katz), Allison (Vinessa Shaw) and of course our two favorite bullies Ice (Larry Bagby) and Jay (Tobias Jelinek), but according to an article in Entertainment Weekly, the director really wanted the old cast to be in it. 

"We wanted to weave in all of the people that the fans loved, and when you sat back with all the ingredients and story, you're like, how do we make this work?" Anne Fletcher the director said. "It was very difficult to make to try and make them apart of it, because we did talk about it - painstakingly. You're trying to stay on track with the story, even if they came in as a cameo. People would say 'they could be in the background!' and I'm like, really? You're going to pull leads of the first move in the background and be satisfied? You're not going to be satisfied, you're going to be angry." 

Alas, even though our old friends were not apart of the new film, having familiar faces like Tony Hale (Veep, Arrested Development) and two actors from Ted Lasso, Hannah Waddingham and Sam Richardson was a lot of fun to watch.

Heads up, there is an end credit scene so who knows, we may see our favorite cast from 1993 join that film. We'll just have to see what Disney thinks after the release numbers today and over the weekend. 

I can confidently say that about 80% of my friends have watched it today and I'm sure will continue to watch it through this haunting season.