Hocus Pocus 2
Disney+ | Release Date (Streaming): September 30, 2022 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
56
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
17
Mixed:
13
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangSep 30, 2022
The movie is a thin but painless retread, cloaking its derivative storytelling in a familiar cloak of fan gratification. Read full review
60
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 29, 2022
Hocus Pocus 2 is actually the better made film, even if it amounts to little more than a stealth remake, with strategic decisions about the present-day and old-Salem witch trios being engineered to allow for more sequels, whether or not its star trio return. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicKiMi RobinsonSep 29, 2022
Some new elements do work . . . But Hocus Pocus 2’s best parts are familiar and beloved to fans of the original movie. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubPhil PirrelloSep 29, 2022
Hocus Pocus 2 (minus one shoulder shrug of a musical number) uses the franchise’s witchcraft and world-building to earnestly explore timely themes of identity and inclusivity, for a follow-up that fans may begrudgingly concede is better than the original. Read full review
50
SlashfilmHoai-Tran BuiSep 29, 2022
When there is no actual conflict, the film's already low stakes start to feel meaningless, and the characters' bumbling hijinks around town start to feel tiresome. Conflict is necessary to inject urgency into a film, and as a result, Hocus Pocus 2 starts to really flag halfway through, once the shine of nostalgia starts to fade and Midler, Parker, and Najimy start to run out of musical numbers to perform. Read full review
50
Screen RantFerdosa AbdiSep 29, 2022
The story is simply a rehash of the first film, and even the jokes begin to fall flat well before the halfway point. Hocus Pocus 2 is enjoyable, but it doesn't quite live up to the lightning-in-a-bottle moment that was the 1993 film. Read full review
42
The PlaylistMarshall ShafferSep 29, 2022
Hocus Pocus fans wanted a new movie, but Disney just gave them a mascot appearance masquerading as a sequel instead. Read full review
40
We Got This CoveredApeksha BagchiOct 3, 2022
The Sanderson sisters are devoted to their act but their campy return to Salem is far from bewitching as it tries to find its way amidst a listless plot and the repeated detours down nostalgia lane. Read full review
40
EmpireHelen O'HaraSep 30, 2022
This is just as unevenly plotted as the original, lacks even the element of surprise, and is not by any reasonable standard “good”. Between gooey and ghoulish, there must be better options. Read full review
40
The Irish TimesTara BradySep 30, 2022
All of these parties try hard with a script that, while credited to Jen D’Angelo, doesn’t appear to have been entirely written as yet. Read full review
40
The GuardianPeter BradshawSep 30, 2022
Like many fan favourite follow-ups, Hocus Pocus 2 is stuck, trapped somewhere between different times, audiences and tones, trying to do so much yet, in this instance, achieving so very little. Read full review
40
ScreenCrushMatt SingerSep 29, 2022
Hocus Pocus 2 doesn’t necessarily demand Kubrickian levels of visual splendor, but it’s still a film, and film is a visual medium. If there was anything even remotely interesting to look at on the screen, that would be nice. Read full review
40
The IndependentAmanda WhitingSep 29, 2022
Hocus Pocus 2 doesn’t hit the extremes that made the original a critical flop, but such an enduring rewatch. It’s less menacing. It lacks the exquisite cuteness exuded by a middle-grade Thora Birch. There are zero talking cats. But that’s unlikely to matter much to most audiences. Read full review
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