How good it is to find our beloved witches. Almost 30 years later Abracadabra, the Sanderson sisters are (finally!) back and they are still as bewitching – if not more so! – than in our memories.
For an entire generation, a Halloween is never complete without reunions with Winifred, Sarah and Mary Sanderson, characters who rocked their youth. Until now, they had to dust off their DVD year following year to dive back, once more and once more, into the universe created by filmmaker Kenny Ortega in 1993.
But now they have a whole new adventure to fall back on, courtesy of Disney+. And it is clear that their patience is rewarded in a very, very beautiful way.
The “new” premise resembles the old one; the three witches are once once more brought back to life by a gang of carefree teenagers. The latter then have a few hours to prevent the Sanderson sisters from ravaging not only the city of Salem, but the entire planet by satisfying their appetite for the souls of children.
If we find ourselves on familiar ground at times, here we dig deeper into the heritage of the Sanderson sisters with an entry exploring their childhood in a Salem of the 17e century. And here we make a new path, Abracadabra 2 having offloaded much of the horror with which its predecessor flirted (very slightly, all the same) in favor of humor, more biting.
Fabulous Bette Midler
Results ? An irresistible new family fable, led by the fabulous Bette Midler, still and always impeccable as an eccentric witch. Same thing for Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy, both perfectly invested and visibly in great shape.
The current generation has therefore probably found its new classic that it will undoubtedly revisit every year… while waiting (we hope) for a possible third chapter.
Abracadabra 2 ★★★1⁄2
- A film by Anne Fletcher
- With Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy.
- Available on Disney+
