‘Practical Magic 2’ Movie Review: Belated Sequel Undoes What Made Its Predecessor So Charming
Photo from Warner Bros.
From Jeremy Kibler
In the intervening twenty-eight years since its failed theatrical release, 1998’s Practical Magic has earned a passionate fanbase, and it’s easy to see why the coven has gotten its numbers up. The Griffin Dunne-directed original isn’t a conventionally great movie—a tonally wonky brew of witchy sisterhood, wispy but tragic romance, resurrected abusive boyfriends, spooky exorcisms, and boozy midnight margaritas—but its cozy, autumnal New England vibes are hard to resist, as is the overall appeal of watching Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, and Dianne Wiest as a witchy family under one seaside roof. It’s now so irresistible that we have Practical Magic 2, a belated sequel that is truly needless, a shadow of its former self, albeit not without its charms and grace notes along the way.
Time seems to have stood still since 1998 in the movie world of Practical Magic, or characters just haven’t aged or evolved much. (Sally’s daughters should really be hitting the big 4-0, but they’re in their early 20s here and both characters have been recast.) As you may remember, the Owens family love curse was seemingly conquered when Sally (Sandra Bullock) ended up with her second husband (Aidan Quinn) without any deathwatch beetles making their chirping omens. Well, the curse took him, too, forcing Sally to erase her daughters’ memory that they were ever witches. Now, Sally is a librarian and sister Gillian “Gilly” (Nicole Kidman) is still the free spirit, and they’re both at the Victorian house of eccentric spinster aunts Jet (Dianne Wiest) and Frances (Stockard Channing).
Sally’s adult daughters Kylie (Joey King, taking over for Evan Rachel Wood) and Antonia (Maisie Williams, taking over for Alexandra Artrip) have heard whispers about their family having a love curse, and when Kylie expresses her love to boyfriend Gideon (a bland Xolo Maridueña), tragedy strikes. This leaves Kylie to discover her family secret when getting her hands on a spell book and venturing to England, only for her mother and aunt to chase after her.
Director Susanne Bier (who has worked with both sisterly stars separately) takes the reins here, handling the tonal shifts with less grace, but it’s the script by Akiva Goldsman, Georgina Pritchett, and Kelly Marcel that makes too many questionable choices from the jump. This sequel is at its best when the family is together, and when the characters are just hanging out (sometimes with their favorite frozen cocktails), it’s a diverting hang. Once the family is divided—and Sally and Gilly go on a globetrotting journey in search of Kylie—the film becomes all about the plot, recalling Beautiful Creatures or really any post-Twilight YA also-ran. Along the way, Gilly gets saddled with the threadbare running “joke” that she’s packed too much into two suitcases she schleps around. It’s a rather plodding fetch quest that should feel higher in stakes than it does, and the reveal of a secret villain has no real impact and just makes the climax a big shrug.
Bullock and Kidman are still winning together and not phoning in their work as polar-opposite sisters; Bullock particularly hasn’t skipped a beat with her stammering comedic shtick. Wiest and Channing are warm and charming as always as Aunt Jet and Aunt Frances, but they’re even more underutilized here than they were before. Recast as Sally’s daughters, Joey King brings all of the convincing emotions, while Maisie Williams has a charismatic presence but ends up getting shortchanged as she stays back and guards her sister’s boyfriend’s hospital bed (it is her profession after all as a med student in scrubs but come on). Lee Pace is at least easy on the eyes as a hot tattooed academic of dark magic who may be a trustworthy love interest for Sally or the true villain.
While the first film’s Alan Silvestri score was quite memorable, the soundtrack also featured the likes of Faith Hill, Stevie Nicks and, of course, Harry Nilsson’s “Coconut.” This time, we do get Stevie Nicks’ “Landslide” put to poignant use.
The best sequels are those that have more story to tell and know how to satisfy both the fans and newcomers. Funnily enough, Practical Magic 2 is most fun when it’s calling back what we liked about the first movie — and it’s all in the last ten minutes or so of a 130-minute movie. It’s just too bad it never feels like it needed to exist.
Rating: 2/5
Practical Magic is currently in theaters.
