‘Return of the Witches 2’: The Halloween Queens are back as if it hadn’t been 30 years

“Ittch-it-a-cop-it-a-melaka-mystica”

Almost 30 years after the premiere of “The Return of the Witches”, someone at Disney found an extra black flame candle to summon the Sanderson sisters again. The thing in Kenny Ortega’s film (“High School Musical”) is the spell of nostalgia in its purest form. The film did not do well at the box office in 1993, nor was it successful with critics. However, a few (quite a few) years later, people began to very insistently ask Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker to get back on the broom (or vacuum cleaner) and bring back that little terror for the whole family that transformed over time into ‘The Return of the Witches’ into a cult classic, perfect for the Halloween period. Finally the prayers of the fans in the light of the full moon have been heard and on September 30th lands on Disney + ‘The Return of the Witches 2’.

Whenever one of the protagonists of the first episode was asked what it would take to return, the answer was always the same: “there must be a good story to justify it”. David Kirschner, screenwriter of the original, Blake Harris and Jen D’Angelo have gone to great lengths to write a film that pays homage to the original, and above all has the same innocent but playful “introduction to horror” feeling that it gives to the film. something so funny first. Although repeating the formula is difficult, ‘The Return of the Witches 2’ satisfies enough basic points to achieve its purpose, even if it fails to achieve the first appearance of the Sanderson sisters.

Most of the action takes place in the present. Becca (Whitney Peak), Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) and Cassie (Lilia Buckingham) are three witch lovers who celebrate each Becca’s birthday, which falls on Halloween, by casting a spell in the woods near Salem to demand power for the new witch year. But on her sixteenth birthday, many things go wrong. First, Cassie isn’t there because she’s distanced herself from them since she dated one of the athletes (Froy Gutierrez). And second, they inadvertently resurrect the Sanderson sisters by relighting a black flame candle. The witches return to seek revenge, and this time they intend not to failcoming to consider performing the spell forbidden by Winifred’s book.

“Return of the Witches 2” achieves that familiar tone that Disney handles so well and which is the secret of the success of these films. It has a childish enough point so that the little ones can watch it without ending up in terror, and at the same time it has a mixture of nods to the original and more current “parenting jokes” so that adults enjoy it too.. The sequel does not have that “horny” point of the first, which repeated the word virgin more or less every three sentences, but it makes up for it by exploiting the fact that the Sandersons are old-fashioned women to compare them to the Roombas and Alexas of the 21st century. The scene at the supermarket looking for rejuvenating creams (made with real babies!) Is hilarious.

Luckily, the three Sandersons are back with a great desire to have fun. Otherwise, this film would make no sense. Kathy Najimy maintains a mastery of wonderful physical humor. Bette Midler is once again a wonderful leader, she channels Winifred as if time had not passed. But it is Sarah Jessica Parker who came with a desire to give absolutely everything. Not only does she bring back that volatility and Sarah Sanderson’s “borderline” point that had already made her hilarious in the first, but now, with that star and icon status behind her, she’s willing to show us that she’s twice as bold with anything. put on him, whether it’s the split or the theft of a music scene from Bette Midler. All three remember the ways as if 30 years had not passed, and their chemistry remains intact, throwing each sentence as if it were pure improvisation. They were the reason for “The Return of the Witches” and continue to be the reason for the second part. It is magical (sorry) to look at the faces of the three and realize that they are making great efforts not to burst out laughing. They spend it like little girls and thanks to that we end up anyway.

Such overflowing and effervescent energy is much needed because the new protagonists are unable to bear the weight of the film as well as the adorable Thora Birch (Dani), Omri Katz (Max) and Vinessa Shaw (Allison), the children of the former. Becca, Izzy and Cassie are fairly straightforward characters and don’t have too much evolution. Froy Gutiérrez almost ends up leaving more marks as an unexpected scream king in one scene than the three of them in the entire film. Although the film has been able to update itself a bit without losing sight of its origins, the choice of three teenagers in a children’s film seems more like an attempt to attract an audience that most likely would have ignored the film in any case, interesting as it was. become his penchant for witchcraft, spells and crystals so as not to repeat the path of the former. In fact, I wish they’d explored a little more a possible leaning towards witch fervor that is so fashionable, as Winifred would freak out to see groups of teenagers casting spells in the park. But basically we don’t want the Sandersons to be allies, but like the revenge-hungry villains they deserve to be.

Let’s go back to the real queens. Anne Fletcher’s film (“The Proposal”) tried to differentiate itself from the former by giving it an emotionality that the original did not have. A prologue shows us some young sisters getting their powers and leaves us with a Hannah Waddingham who would see a spin-off and a savage Tony Hale who will continue his appearances in the film trying to emulate the coven in excessive acting. If the first was a Halloween story, as simple as it is effective, aims to invoke the strength of friendship, brotherhood and bonds that hide our true power. Especially between Winifred and her sisters, which he often considers a toothache, but they are her toothache. ‘Return of the Witches 2’ manages to touch our hearts as well as make us laugh, albeit in quite insidious ways. I really appreciate the attempts to make it different from the first, but I’m even more grateful that time has allowed them to distinguish what worked in “Return of the Witches” and not lose it in three decades., how to give us Bette Midler singing a fantastic version of Elton John’s “The B … The Witch is Back”, bringing back to life a fantastic Doug Jones as Billy Butcherson, the good (and now talkative) zombie who finally makes justice and takes advantage of advances in technology so that the spellbook can demonstrate greater interpretative reach. The visual effects are correct, most likely the result of the film that went directly to stream, although I want to believe that it is also a way to pay homage to those more homely effects of the first (despite the fact that the feline version of Thackery Binx was the best CGI at the time).

We won’t see “Return of the Witches 2” on the big screen, but its return doesn’t look like a minor product. It’s a full-fledged sequel that accomplishes two seemingly difficult things: convincing Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker to return as Winifred, Mary and Sarah (with all the law), and summarizing the foolish spirit of the original without to be too softened for the cynical times that run. The Sandersons give us once again a perfect movie to enjoy with lots of popcorn, candy and chocolate on Halloween or any night we want to conjure up an effective holiday for the whole family.

“Ittch-it-a-cop-it-a-melaka-mystica”

Preview “The return of the witches 2”. on Disney + on September 30th.

Note: 7

The best: Lo for the work that Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and (above all) Sarah Jessica Parker are back to have fun, and have fun. The nods to the original mingled with a more current humor.

Worse: The three teenage protagonists are quite forgettable. Drop interesting ideas to explore other facets, such as the fashion of witchcraft, but they lead nowhere.