After a very long wait, the Sanderson Sisters returned in Hocus Pocus 2, but their new adventures in Salem haven’t been as well received as expected. Back in 1993, Disney introduced the audience to the Sanderson Sisters in Hocus Pocus, directed by Kenny Ortega. Hocus Pocus told the story of three witches who were hanged in 1693 after killing a child to take her life force and stay young forever, but moments before their execution, the oldest sister, Winifred (Bette Midler), cast a spell that would bring them back during a full moon on Halloween if a virgin lit the Black Flame Candle at their cottage.
Three centuries later, Max Dennison (Omri Katz) inadvertently resurrected the Sanderson Sisters, and he, his sister Dani (Thora Birch), and his crush Allison (Vinessa Shaw) rushed to stop them from draining the life force out of all the children in Salem. Max, Dani, and Allison, with the help of Billy Butcherson (Doug Jones), managed to defeat the Sanderson sisters and saw them turn into dust, but almost three decades later, with a new Black Flame Candle made by Gilbert (Sam Richardson), two teenage girls – Becca (Whitney Peak) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) – accidentally resurrected the Sanderson Sisters. However, instead of looking to take the life force out of children, they planned on enhancing their powers to the max. Although Hocus Pocus 2 was a long-awaited project, it has been met with a lot of complaints, of which some ended up being a bit contradicting – and here’s every one of them.
The Sanderson Sisters’ Backstory Fell Short
One of the elements in Hocus Pocus 2 that was heavily marketed in order to draw the attention of its past audience was the exploration of the Sanderson Sisters’ backstory. Hocus Pocus 2 begins in 1653 Salem, where a young Winifred defied the authority of the church by refusing to marry a man named John Pritchett. Because of this, Winifred was banished from Salem by Reverend Traske (Tony Hale), but as he and his people tried to take Mary and Sarah, the Sanderson Sisters escaped to the nearby forbidden forest. There they met Mother Witch (Hannah Waddingham), a mysterious witch who gave the now famous spell book to Winifred and warned her about the “Magicae Maxima” spell. The Sanderson Sisters are then seen using a spell to burn the Reverend’s house, and they continue to use the book to make potions that keep them young.
Unfortunately, that was all there was about the Sandersons’ backstory, as Hocus Pocus 2 then cut to 2022 and didn’t reveal more about the sisters’ journey through witchcraft after getting the book. This flashback to 1653 also made way for inconsistency in Winnie’s story with Billy Butcherson, but more on that later.
The Sanderson Sisters Weren't "Evil" Enough In Hocus Pocus 2
The Sanderson Sisters were the fun antagonists of Hocus Pocus, where their main goal was to get as many children as they could to take their life force, which would kill the kids but would keep the sisters young and allow them to live longer. Mary and Sarah even used their unique powers to get Salem’s children, with Mary (Kathy Najimy) being able to smell when a kid was nearby and Sarah (Sarah Jessica Parker) using her mesmerizing voice to lure the children to their cottage. Although the Sandersons returned and they should have been looking for some revenge after their defeat in 1993, Hocus Pocus 2 toned down the Sandersons’ “evil” and made them a lot softer and more comedic. The Sandersons’ story this time relied more on sisterhood and the bond between Winifred, Mary, and Sarah rather than on their evil plans and acts, and these changes weren’t well received by the audience.
Hocus Pocus 2 Relied Too Much On Nostalgia
Given the cult status of Hocus Pocus and how many years passed between movies, it was almost unavoidable for Hocus Pocus 2 to take advantage of the nostalgia attached to it. This was one of the strengths of the movie, as many viewers welcomed the nostalgic elements attached to Hocus Pocus 2, such as flashbacks to the events of the first movie and the many similarities between the plots of both, but many others felt this played against it. The premise of Hocus Pocus 2 was pretty much the same as the original one, and while it worked for the most part, many viewers expected a fresher story for the Sandersons’ return, so the nostalgia factor played both in Hocus Pocus 2's favor and against it.
Hocus Pocus 2’s Story Was Messy
Speaking of the story of Hocus Pocus 2, along with the lack of “evil” in the Sanderson Sisters and the nostalgia factors in it, the story had too many subplots and not enough time to properly explore each one of them. In addition to the return of the Sanderson Sisters and their plans to cast the Magicae Maxima spell to continue living after Halloween, Hocus Pocus 2 followed the broken friendship between Becca and Izzy and Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), the reveal of Becca being a witch (which left many questions as it’s unknown why she got powers), Gilbert and Billy’s brief subplot, and the Sandersons’ hunt for Jefry Traske, the Mayor of Salem, Cassie’s father, and descendant of Reverend Traske. Hocus Pocus 2 jumped from one subplot to the other and left most of them without a proper conclusion and failed to explore them, leaving many unanswered questions.
Hocus Pocus 2’s Jokes Felt Forced
Another big complaint about Hocus Pocus 2 is its sense of humor and jokes. Of course, bringing the Sanderson Sisters to 2022 made way for a variety of jokes about how these women from the 1600s would react to the technology and more of the present day and how easily manipulated they could be, as Max did to them in the first movie, but unfortunately, most of those jokes were just updated versions of the ones in the original movie. In addition to that, the comedic moments from the new cast felt forced and exaggerated, giving Hocus Pocus 2 an uneven tone.
Hocus Pocus 2 Was Missing Too Many Original Characters
When Hocus Pocus 2 was confirmed to be in development back in 2019, and in addition to the return of Midler, Najimy, and Parker, fans of the original movie hoped to see the return of Max, Dani, and Allison. Unfortunately, it was confirmed in early 2022 that they, along with Thackery Binx, Ice, and Jay, wouldn’t return for the sequel, and this turned out to be true. In a strange contradiction with the complaints about Hocus Pocus 2 relying too much on nostalgia, another complaint was about the absence of all these original characters, of which most of them could have had a place in the story. The complaints about Hocus Pocus 2 missing too many original characters only grew after the new characters, while not bad, failed to connect with the audience the same way Max, Dani, and Allison did.
Hocus Pocus 2's Winnie & Billy Had Some Big Inconsistencies
Although the flashbacks to the Sandersons’ younger years in Hocus Pocus 2 fell short, they made way for big inconsistencies in the story of Winifred and Billy. In Hocus Pocus, it was revealed that Billy was Winifred’s boyfriend, who cheated on her with her sister, Sarah, and so Winifred poisoned him in 1693, only to be resurrected in 1993 to help them, but Billy instead took Max and Dani’s side. Hocus Pocus 2 saw the return of Billy as the Sandersons’ needed his head for the spell, and he explained that he wasn’t put back to sleep in 1993 so he had been waiting for the right moment to rise again. This time, however, Billy insisted over and over again that he and Winifred only kissed once, which was mentioned by young Winnie in the flashback, leaving a bunch of questions about what exactly was their relationship, the supposed cheating with Sarah, and why he was killed. In addition to that, at the end of Hocus Pocus 2, when the Sandersons faded away, all of Winifred’s spells were broken, allowing Billy to finally head to his eternal rest – but this should have happened in the first movie, when the Sandersons’ defeat broke Thackery Binx free.