hyped garbage

A Masterpiece!

The acting in this movie is really good.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

As expected from Disney. If we put aside tradition of making animated masterpieces and concentrate on feature movies, Disney rarely fails, but there's even fewer great movies. This one is no exception. Quite dark story presented in optimistic and cheerful way typical for this company. It's fun and entertaining and it has no bigger flaws, but there's nothing to praise either. Good choice when you just want to relax your brain, cause it's not needed for watching this flick.6/10

"Hocus Pocus" is fun, simple, silly, and delivered in a long gone style. There is nothing deep or complicated but a tale of legends and children who dare to play with forbidden objects. The line " I told you so" is probably one that one could hear over and over. Instead, we just tag along and enjoy the various episodes dealing with black cats, vengeful witches, and adventurous children.Back in the time of Salem, three witches are executed, leaving enough proof of their existence and becoming the heart of the many legends in a small Northeastern town. There's nothing really scary or threatening here. Yes, the witches are back for revenge and speak of having people for dinner. However, as the lines are delivered by Midler with a twinkle in her eyes and her sisters ham it up for the camera (Najimi being more successful than Parker), the comedy is broad; the type that children will enjoy the most, and adults can be willing participants to feel like kids again.I was mostly impressed by the quality of the production, obviously filmed in a studio, yet good enough to give the illusion of a Halloween fairy tale. You will see witches flying, some double entendre for the adults, and a hint of zombies. Just tune in, get some pop corn and enjoy a bit of magic.

Back in 1693, the Sanderson sisters are hung for performing witchcraft. 300 years later they become resurrected after a sceptical teenager lights the infamous black candle as he believes the legend of the Sanderson sisters to be merely 'Hocus Pocus'. Newly resurrected, the mighty Sanderson sisters are set to bring about a new reign of terror on the town of Salem with only 2 teenagers, a young girl and an immortal cat intent on trying to stop them.Strangely, the best way for me to analyse a film like Hocus Pocus is to imagine yourself being sober and being in the company of a bunch of drunk people; they start off amusing and you find yourself being able to have a bit of a laugh with them in the early stages, but then the longer the evening progresses and the more drunk they get you start to notice that they become louder, more annoying and harder to tolerate. Interestingly, this was my perception of this whole film....In the last paragraph I am specifically referring to the 3 witches (Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy). To be fair, their performances are excellent here and they are definitely responsible for the funniest moments in the film, but when watching them it does feel like you're in the company of the 3 of the most irritating people in the world (Najimy as Mary says 'I smell children' quite a lot and this is her only real memorable contribution). Parker puts in a good performance, but it essentially just consists of her either being flirtatious or childish - again a mix that works well at the start, but begins to wear out its welcome in the latter stages). Midler is easily the best of the 3 and is able to carry the film with ease - it probably helps that as the leader of the group that she's given more of a character to work with, but she's the only one who really shows any general menace. All 3 women are guilty of overacting at times and their scenes together also feel quite theatrical a lot of the time. The supporting cast are actually OK, but are not as compelling as the leads with only Thora Birch really being able to display any real talent (Birch is probably better known for her work in American Beauty).Aside from feeling like a wacky, zany and crazy acid trip the film is also rarely funny and seems overly reliant on star power to get by; the story is actually quite weak and isn't particularly involving - this isn't helped by the obligatory trite teenage romance slotted slap bang in the middle of the picture which seems to dominate proceedings.I also felt that the film missed out on opportunities to be smarter or funnier; the witches are resurrected 300 years later, but the only comments they make on their new society relate to firemen being witch-hunters and Bette Midler asking a bus driver what the strange contraption is that he's driving... More tit-bits like this would have given this film an edge and just made it a bit funnier than it was.I have to admit that although there were a lot of things that I disliked about this film it's still a colourful and fairly lively film at times and Midler, Najimy and Parker do breathe some life into the film and make it much better than it has any right to be. I suspect that the basic level of escapism that it provides will please older children (its darker themes make it unsuitable for young children). For me though, despite it having some historical significance I just found the story a little weak and found the whole thing to be a little too wacky and crazy and sadly these things came at the expense of it being funny most of the time.

After seeing this the only thing I can think of Kathy Najimy's stomach turning pervy act. She didn't do or say anything that was funny. Sarah Jessica Parker acted like she had suffered from a severe brain injury and Bette Midler……tired, tired, tired.And another thing, the constant elbow in the stomach act? Please. That is so Love American Style or Tim Conway from Carol Burnett Show. Really? That was supposed to be funny?The only positives from this film were the sets and the lighting. The only truly clever act was perhaps the corpse that comes back to live and dances around the graveyard but then, suddenly this isn't a film for kids. Horrible. Just horrible.