For film score collectors, the return of Debney for Hocus Pocus 2 is a welcome turn of events, as the prior score has long been held with enough esteem to make it a rare album find. The sequel score immeasurably improves upon the ambient recording qualities of Hocus Pocus, which has always sounded flat and restrained in its soundscape. Boasting a much fuller orchestral sound, Hocus Pocus 2 also benefits from a more varied choral approach. Female voices are still emphasized until a balanced adult ensemble returns with the witches, and all of these tones have a touch of James Newton Howard's techniques. On the other hand, there are not as many specialty instrumental colors to suggest old witchcraft in this work, chimes and other metallic percussion referenced but some of the charm of the prior medieval elements reduced or completely eliminated. Much of the character of the first score is lost here, including the enthusiasm factor. So much of Hocus Pocus 2 sounds perfunctory instead, a shell of the prior score's personality. After the witches are resurrected, Debney moves into a more anonymous action and suspense mode for some reason, mid-section cues like "Let's Steal Their Souls!," "Salt Bags," "Cobweb the Cat/Hourglass," "Lift the Curse and Let Us Out," and "I Need Your Head/Meeting the Mayor" accomplishing very little for the narrative. Some of this failure to connect is owed to the composer's inferior handling of themes in the sequel. The main identity for the witches in Hocus Pocus remains the dominant theme, and the brother/sister theme is refocused nicely as a more general sibling idea late in this score. Otherwise, though, the thematic situation in Hocus Pocus 2 is a mess, with the main new identity barely discernable and others not developed well enough to matter. Gone from the equation are the two best themes from the prior score, the love theme that would serve no purpose in this narrative and the lullaby for Sarah the witch, which also makes sense given that it was a Horner composition. Debney fails to provide adequate replacements for these melodies, though, leaving the main concept theme to carry the weight of the narrative in ways it simply cannot achieve.

One lingering complaint about the Hocus Pocus score is that its main theme for the witches, while devious and appropriate to the topic, did not experience enough clear, full-ensemble performances to make it readily memorable. That issue persists in Hocus Pocus 2, the theme definitely utilized in some of the right places but not stated with the needed emphasis to really impress. Its many interpolations are not necessarily satisfying, and they are certainly not as devious as before. It emerges at 0:32 into "Salem 1653" in mystery, the "Main Title" from the previous film exploding at 0:46 and theme proper provided in full at 0:55. From there, the theme is often supplied in allusion or pieces, as at 0:28 into "Lighting the Black Flame" on slight, whining strings and fragmented in panic during the middle of "Sanderson's Storm." It factors at 0:11 into "The Power Spell" on light choir and very slightly in the middle of "Cobweb the Cat/Hourglass," lowered to deep choir in the latter cue. The witches' theme is tense on strings early and late in "Digging Up Billy," reduced to two-note fragmented accents in "Lift the Curse and Let Us Out," brightens to brief playfulness early in "I Need Your Head/Meeting the Mayor," and is sinewy and malicious in the first half of "Forbidden Wood," after which it develops into new, longer-lined melodic offshoot of similar character. The theme is twisted into more melodramatic, almost unrecognizable variants in "Is Becca a Witch?" before reforming on angry brass at 3:53. Suspenseful on choir in the first half of "Finishing the Spell" and yielding to a single burst at 1:58 on brass, it closes out "Making Amends With Gilbert" with a comedic burst, builds to another concluding crescendo of optimism in "Cobweb Canole," and is supplied a different mix of last half of "Salem 1653" during all of "Hocus Pocus Main Theme," a rather lazy and disappointing way to conclude the score on album. The returning sibling theme applies this time to the witches for a poignant switch demanded by the plot, reprised at 1:46 into "Sarah and Mary Disappear" on nostalgic cellos before shifting to tender strings and woodwinds at 2:17 and piano later, a full ensemble performance of redemption at 5:05 a touching moment. The idea continues to waft in and out of "Making Amends With Gilbert" with additional light drama, including some very nice choral accompaniment.

The application of the sibling theme from the first score to the witches themselves in Hocus Pocus 2 is the emotional highlight of the sequel score, and that alone may salvage the work as a whole for some listeners. Where Debney really struggles, however, is in the handling of the other themes in this entry. He devises a Magicae Maxima theme to represent the pursuit of the all-powerful spell, but it is so generic and haphazardly applied that few listeners will notice its existence. Its three-note phrases use the same underlying chords of the main theme and debut at 0:04 into "Banished Thee" on horns, its presence heightened at 0:41 under muted trumpets. The theme is further explored at 1:11 into "The Power Spell" in similar form, on deep woodwinds early in "Forbidden Wood," at 0:18 and later into "Is Becca a Witch?" with quiet defiance, and with heightened force in the middle of "Finishing the Spell." The idea never achieves the power it deserves at this climax, however; nor does the witches' own theme, which renders these cues surprisingly inert. Instead, the idea turns lightly tragic as expected in the first minute of "Sarah and Mary Disappear" but transitions into a rhythmic figure that had been foreshadowed in "Is Becca a Witch?" and espouses the phrasing and repetitive feel of the spindle/curse theme from Howard's Maleficent. Debney does not provide the three young girls of this plot with a replacement for the prior score's equivalents despite teasing with some possible options. A melody at 1:18 into "I Don't Have a Temper" is very pretty on woodwinds and much like the love theme from Howard's Jungle Cruise in melody and tone, but this idea is abandoned after that cue. Likewise, other more dramatic melodies serve the same purpose at 3:12 into "Forbidden Wood" and 0:36 into "Making Amends With Gilbert" for soft closure. Ultimately, Debney is unable to consolidate these potential secondary motifs into a meaningful new narrative in Hocus Pocus 2. The whole of the melodic development in the score is a remarkable disappointment compared to the prior entry (which itself had some issues in this area) and the composer's own Luck from earlier in the same year. For some listeners, the continuation of the prior score's two most major themes and some basic instrumental mannerisms will be enough to suffice. But it is difficult not to walk away from this score with the feeling that it represents a substantially missed opportunity.   @Amazon.com: CD or Download