Book Review: Hocus Pocus & The All-New Sequel by A.W. Jantha
This week I decided to get into the Halloween spirit by reading "Hocus Pocus & The All New Sequel" by A. W. Jantha, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the movie. I feel like you just can't welcome the seasons changing without watching your holiday favorites like Charlie Brown & The Great Pumpkin, Halloweentown and The Good Witch movie series. As you tell by the movie titles I often like to keep my Halloween movies PG, why because I don't enjoy scary movies. But I do enjoy movies that won't startle me and have wholesome stories and characters. And be sure to read last week's blog on the book How To Be A Bawse by Lilly Singh.
One Of A Kind Characters
As much as I love this movie and book, now that I have grown up I notice that there wasn't a lot of diversity but only one-sided characters. I grew to love these characters as a child, it just surprises me that I wasn't able to see how the first movie didn't feature any characters and storylines that vary. Like teenaged Max that is forced to look after his younger sister Dani, dumb blonde Sarah Sanderson, and the hungry sister Mary Sanderson.
Which is why I wasn't surprised to find out that in 2018 the sequel would have two black sidekicks and a lesbian main character. I see this as an attempt for Disney to stop being seen as prejudice and creating inclusivity n their movies and shows. The characters that had the potential to add to the book were only given small and unimportant parts like Thackery Binx/Cat and Billy Butcherson the mute zombie, they could've had more meaning if we were given a flashback on their history.
Memorable Moments from the Movie
Don't get me wrong I still love the movie and book dearly I've never laughed so hard when Dani said: "Max likes your yabbos" when she was referring to Allison's chest to make Max feel uncomfortable. Or seeing the witches book literally come to life and how when they are awoken Winfred says "You know, I've always wanted a child. And now I think I'll have one on toast!". And now I think I'll have one on toast!". This movie and others like it has been quoted because of its distinctive language and verbiage as though it came out a few weeks ago.
A Sequel To See?
I did enjoy the sequel I didn't enjoy the very slow start to the story; I understand that you have to introduce the new characters and give background information on them. But it just felt like it was taking forever for the Sanderson Sisters to reappear, and I wish that they gave the original characters a bigger part instead of just an extension of them. There was also a large number of terrible puns, to supposedly connect with a younger audience. But saying "Witch please" more than 5 times just makes me want to roll my eyes and wish they would have tried a little harder on this sequel after all it has been 25 years. I did like the new witch Emily Sanderson the youngest witch, who joined forces with the children of the original characters and help rescue their parents like in the original.
Would I Buy Or Read Again? I don't see myself actually purchasing this book I only think that the book cover is cute and decorative. I don't feel that I will read it again, it wasn't exactly memorable to me. The only reason I decided to read this book was to find out where some of my favorite characters would end up.
Catch up on last week's blog on the book How To Be A Bawse by Lilly Singh.
If you have any book suggestions add them below in the comments, and look out for new book reviews every Sunday. And remember “As we ‘Rise to Be’, we are becoming who we want to be” -Christina B. Rising🤗
