Return to Halloweentown_720p(480P)

source: Return to Halloweentown

Disney has managed to make a total of 4 "Halloweentown" flicks. None of which have managed to strike too much interest in me to watch the franchise flourish. I must admit, "Halloweentown High" was a decent entry. The main reason I watch these movies is because they are adequate enough for my nearly 7 year old daughter to watch. Now, regarding this 4th entry...I was skeptical due to replacing the lead actress of Kimberly J. Brown with the less than suitable Sara Paxton. All of what I thought would be wrong with this film was true. Sara Paxton was deplorable in the lead. She did not have the screen presence to hold her scenes together. Her acting is 1 dimensional and wooden. Her vacant, doe-eyes seem to be a window into a dark, empty place with no talent. I think mostly I was disappointed with her and that is why the movie didn't work for me. I tried imagining Kimberly J. Brown in the room and I couldn't see it! This script was not written with her in mind. I applaud her for pursuing a more grown-up career path. As for the rest of the cast - Judith Hoag is a beauty and a talent and I was glad she got more screen time in this installment. Debbie Reynolds was a mere cameo - but can you blame her? J. Paul Zimmerman was allowed to expand his part in this film, which was a change. And it appears this film sets it up for him to be a possible main character for a potential 5th film. Return to Halloweentown was a tepid & bland film with no meat to it! Overall, as a grown adult, I will give these films credit for what they are - Decent films for young children to enjoy at Halloween.

I just saw it, and well while Sara Paxton gave it her best, it just didn't cut it. She didn't have the same 'girl next door' quality or the quirky little mix-ups that Kimberly put into the character. Sara was really quite bland in comparison to Kimberly. Also, there were definite problems with continuity. Where did their younger sister go? There wasn't even a mention of her let alone an appearance. Their mom kept going on and on about having nobody left at home, well where the heck did she vanish to? And her grandmother, well there was only a very brief cameo of her which was also very disappointing. The story line had promise, the costumes needed a bit more, and it would have been fun to see more of the characters developed in III (especially the cute troll with Dylan) although it as nice to see Ethan in this one as well. I really quite liked the other three; they got me in the mood for Halloween, but overall, this one definitely left me wanting more.

Just no, the decision to replace marnie and give Aggie a very limited role was just a bad movie. This doesn't have the feel of Halloweentown, I reject this as a sequel.

For this movie they should have had Sara Paxton play Sophie going to college instead of Marnie and I think it would have been better. Other than that it was okay except for it needed more of a plot to it. Like they should have brought some of the old stuff to it like the talisman in the first 1. Witch University was manly witches and that dwarf guy. There were no monsters except for like 3. There was this one scene in the trailer that I did not see in the movie. it was when Sara(Marnie) and J. Paul(Dylan) showed there id's to this knight and J. Paul said " I wanna go to a real college." Other than that it was a cool movie. There was this One cool part in the movie was when she found out the secret of Halloweentown. But you have to watch the movie to find out what it is.

Hate it when they change the main character to a new person. I wonder why they even did it.

I thought this movie was horrible. Sara just wasn't the girl to fill Kims shoes. It kinda through me off when I saw Sara. I expected it, but I just couldn't bring myself to believe that it was still Marnie. The script wasn't that good either, but I think that Kim could have made it work. Sara just didn't know the mood of the movie. She hadn't had the practice of the other 3 movies, so she had no chance of being the Character Marnie. If they were going to change the actor they shouldn't have made another movie. Or they should have used one of the other family members like Sophie. I didn't personally like Sophie, but I think the movie would have been better staring her instead of a new actor to the movie.

What can I say. I have been a huge fan of Halloweentown, but changing the main actress was the wrong step to make. It ruined the movie. Paxton should have been the younger sister not Kimberly Browns role. Disappointing. 😞

Personally, I thought that the fourth movie was horrible. The decision to bring Sara Paxton is because Kimberly J Brown had scheduling conflicts was an idiotic decision that should have gotten someone fired. If that wasn't bad enough, Aggie Cromwell was had a MINOR role and Sophie had almost no role at all. They only brought back four MAJOR characters from the former movies and that was Dylan, (who wasn't as funny or sarcastic as the first three movies) Gwen Cromwell,(who was much more entertaining in the first three) and Ethan(who was much different from the role in the third and had a MUCH larger role.) I think that the decision to not put Luke the goblin in was also bad judgment because I found Luke to be a funny and interesting character, and i would have liked to see if anything would happen between him a and Marnie. There was also talk of Kal making a comeback and I think this would have been a very good idea as he was one of my favorite characters even if he was evil. All in all, the fourth Halloweentown movie was a disappointment and I hope that the fifth will be better!