Going back to childhood favorites is always risky, yet comforting. But once you get past the basic early 2000s storyline and mediocre special effects, you’ll find “Twitches” is actually not that bad.
It’s spooky season, so a return to those early 2000s Halloween gems from Disney Channel is a must. I begin with personal favorites, “Twitches,” and “Twitches Too.” The series stars Tia and Tamera Mowry as twins separated at birth, chronicling their lives as they learn about each other and their magical origins. It’s a solid premise; one of them delivers on the perfect Halloween. The other is reminiscent of going through your Halloween bag and seeing your neighbor gave you your least favorite candy.
“Twitches”
The second I pressed play and saw Coventry covered in “the darkness,” I felt a rush of happiness and nostalgia, and that stayed with me throughout the film.
Right off the bat, the film is funny and light-hearted. The intro sets up all the backstory we need to know and leaves us with just enough curiosity to want to know more.
Now it’s time to meet our favorite Twitches (get it? Twin witches), Camryn (Tamera Mowry-Housely) and Alex (Tia Mowry-Hardrict). The film takes place on Halloween, which is “coincidentally” their 21st birthday.
It’s the classic, twins separated at birth and going off to live very different lives. One struggling in a low-income household and the other clearly among the upper class. Although, seeing Black wealth is always a refreshing sight.
We learn the girls have two specific talents, art, and writing, but these talents aren’t random. They are subconsciously drawing and writing about Coventry because their abilities tie into their magic. An excellent touch to add depth to their personalities.
Karsh and Ileana, the protectors, are our comic relief characters, and it’s done well. They constantly bicker, but you can tell it’s from the heart and not hate.
The conflict is very basic, to the point of if this were the conflict in any other film, we’d have a big problem. But this is a 2005 made-for-TV Disney movie, so I’ll allow it.
The Darkness is the story’s villain and, with the power of light and love, the Twitches must save Coventry.
The film does have a few complex ideas.
Alex struggles to accept that finding her birth mother does not mean she has to replace her late adopted mother. Camryn struggles with change and not wanting her adopted parents to feel like she doesn’t love them.
My biggest issue with this film is that the girls are 21. I am 21, and I cannot see myself, or any other 21-year-old, acting the way they do. This does not feel like a film that should center around young adults, it should be about teenagers.
The choice was probably made because the producers wanted the Mowry twins to star as they were the only well-established female twins in Hollywood. But the film would’ve worked better with 15 or 16 year-olds.
“Twitches” is a perfect addition to the Disney Channel Halloween era, and the soundtrack with Aly and AJ – chef’s kiss.
“Twitches Too”
If there’s anything Hollywood has trouble making, it’s decent anime adaptations and sequels. Unfortunately, “Twitches Too” is not the exception.
The film rehashes a lot of beats from the original, and it comes off as stale and redundant.
Karsh and Ileana’s bickering was cute at first, and now I’m wondering if getting married is the best choice.
Once again, the girls are running away at the hour of need, and there’s a speech about sticking together because they’re twins.
Even the villain comes back, which would’ve been fine if the time jump between the two films wasn’t a day.
The new plot point is the girls’ biological father, Aaron. It turns out he’s alive and trapped in another realm. For the most part, this storyline was good, and it ties into some internal conflicts with Alex.
But, (spoiler) when he does come back, there is no payoff. He’s just there, and he has no more than 3 lines in all his screen time. More time needed to be spent on his return since he was the whole point of the film.
They brought back one character and introduced a new one from the girls’ mortal lives in New York. This was completely unnecessary because they added nothing to the story. Their screen time could’ve been given to the dad.
The special effects got worse. In “Twitches” it was good; in “Twitches Too” it was distractingly bad. I know it was 2007, but “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” came out in the same year, and it had great effects.
Now you might say, but that was a big-budget franchise film, and that is true. But do we not expect Disney to put more money into their sequel films to make them look better?
“Twitches Too” had potential, but it ended up being the trick, while “Twitches” was the treat.
Featured image via FlixList