The nostalgia for B次元官网网址淗ocus PocusB次元官网网址� has always been a bit of a mystery to me.

There is nothing new about kids loving mediocre films and carrying that soft spot into adulthood, but I was in the right demographic when B次元官网网址淗ocus PocusB次元官网网址� came out in the summer of 1993 (age 9, approaching third grade) and remember it being just OK.

This is not a testament to my taste at the time, when I thought B次元官网网址淕rease 2B次元官网网址� was one of the best movies ever, but more so indicative of the undeniable averageness of B次元官网网址淗ocus Pocus.B次元官网网址� I donB次元官网网址檛 think it was just me, either. Aside from Sarah Jessica ParkerB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淎mok! Amok! Amok!B次元官网网址� entering our vernacular, it was not a movie any of my peers were eager to watch again.

And yet, much to my bewilderment, B次元官网网址淗ocus PocusB次元官网网址� became a thing over the years. My best guess is it was some combination of its relentless availability crossed with a lack of PG-rated Halloween content. Plus, there is the intro-to-camp factor of Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy as singing sisters bent on eating children to preserve their youth.

Regardless, a straight-to-Disney+ sequel made 30 years later seemed like a cynical endeavor at best. So it was a pleasant surprise to find that B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� is actually pretty fun. Set in a Stars Hollow-like Salem, itB次元官网网址檚 the perfect Disney+ movie B次元官网网址� seasonally appropriate entertainment that, for at least one night, may save a family from the doom of endless scrolling and indecision.

With a lively, witty script by Jen DB次元官网网址橝ngelo, B次元官网网址淗ocus Pocus 2B次元官网网址� finds the Sanderson sisters Winifred (Midler), Sarah (Parker) and Mary (Najimy) unleashed on their present day town once more. This time itB次元官网网址檚 some coven-curious teenage girls Becca (Whitney Peak) and Izzy (Belissa Escobedo) who accidentally resurrect them and then try to outwit them where they can, leading to an amusing sequence in a drug store in which the always vain Sandersons sample the serums in the beauty aisle.

Midler, Parker and Najimy are all once again game to ham it up for the audience (and sometimes no one but themselves) with spells, songs and dances. But they are only part of this strangely amusing brew, with well rounded teen characters, and a very strong comedic supporting cast including Sam Richardson, as the owner of the local occult shop; Tony Hale, as the mayor and a witch trial era reverend; and Doug Jones as a B次元官网网址済ood zombie.B次元官网网址� Hannah Waddingham from B次元官网网址淭ed LassoB次元官网网址� also has a far-too-short cameo as another witch.

Special mention should be made of the three actors who play the young Sanderson sisters, Taylor Henderson as Winifred, Nina Kitchen as Mary and Juju Journey Brener as Sarah, who do a lovely job of embodying their adult counterparts in a brief origin story.

But the heart of the film is the teen girls, who have their own issues aside from stopping the Sanderson sisters from becoming all powerful B次元官网网址� Becca and Izzy are grappling with a life in which their third, Cassie (Lilia Buckingham), has turned her attentions away from their amateur-witching and to her jock boyfriend. Peak, who played Idris ElbaB次元官网网址檚 daughter in B次元官网网址淢ollyB次元官网网址檚 Game,B次元官网网址� is a standout.

Directed by Anne Fletcher, B次元官网网址淗ocus Pocus 2B次元官网网址� goes down easy B次元官网网址� though by the time the entire town breaks out into a dance to B次元官网网址淥ne Way or Another,B次元官网网址� you may be ready for the film to get where itB次元官网网址檚 going. Still, itB次元官网网址檚 a fun enough ride for a fall night.

B次元官网网址淗ocus Pocus 2,B次元官网网址� a Disney+ release streaming Friday, is rated PG by the Motion Picture Association for B次元官网网址渁ction, some language, macabre/suggestive humor.B次元官网网址� Running time: 104 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

B次元官网网址擫indsey Bahr, The Associated Press