The witches are back, but is ‘Hocus Pocus 2’ a spellbinding sequel or a mixed potion?

Tomorrow, Hocus Pocus 2 will be out and available to the public on Disney Plus. It took nearly three decades to arrive, and while there is a lot of hype and reviews circulating today that suggest the film has promise, it is not as likely to cast a spell on fans as the original did.

Over at Variety, Peter Debruge sums up his analysis by saying the piece is more of the same. He writes that the piece borrows much of the vibes Harry Potter put out during that series’ initial theatrical run, and says some of the performers playing younger versions of the witches are having fun, but, ultimately, the work may be too inundated with musical numbers to give off tension to its audience.

“It’s hard to be too intimidated by three women who keep erupting into musical numbers, including a cover of Elton John’s ‘The Bitch Is Back’ (with ‘witch’ swapped in for the B-word) that leaves so many questions — like, ‘have they been rehearsing this in hell?’ and ‘how long till this spawns a stage musical?'”

Though Debruge has some good things to say, Brian Truitt of USA Today is more negative in his assessment of the project. He sums up his column today by claiming the movie is “wretched.” He says the added backstory for the Sanderson sisters renders them toothless, but does add the new actors in the film, who appear for brief moments, do good with what they have to perform with.

“Two guest stars make the most of their time: Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) plays a witch the Sandersons meet in 17th-century Salem, and Sam Richardson is owner of the magic shop frequented by Becca and Izzy. (From Werewolves Within to The Afterparty, Richardson usually makes everything he’s in better, but he can save only so much of this travesty.)”

Some of the highest praise circulating right now for the project comes from Shannon Connellan over at Mashable. In her article filed today, she believes the piece is wickedly fun. Highlights from her article include a focus on smart and modern dialogue, apparently old-school effects and, like Truitt, she says the new characters are pretty good. While he has praise for just a couple, she also takes the time to laud Tony Hale, who apparently does a great job in a dual performance and makes comedic gold out of a simply candied apple, too.

“And then there’s Tony Hale, doubling up as both Salem’s present day Mayor Traske and Sanderson sisters-hating Reverend Traske of 17th century Salem. Hale brings perfect small town politician and Friend’s Dad energy to the film as Cassie’s dad and the mayor; he laughs way too long at non-jokes and gets overwhelmingly emotional about the carnival return of the caramel apples of Sandy’s Candy Cauldron — watching Hale scornfully brandish his sad, store-bought version shouldn’t be as funny as it really, really is.”

Hocus Pocus 2 currently has a 67 percent positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 33 reviews. This tops the original, which somehow only has a 38 percent positive rating based on 58 reviews, though audiences like it more with a fresh score of 71 percent. We’ll find out for sure which reviews are accurate when Hocus Pocus 2 lands on Disney Plus tomorrow.