While fans of the 1998 film are likely to enjoy spending time with these characters again, this belated sequel lacks the character depth or focused plot of the original, and ends up feeling more like a cover song than a new composition.

Premise: Following the death of her second husband (after the events of the first film), Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock) has turned her back on her magical powers and erased all memory of magic from her (now grown up) children, Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams), much to the dismay of her sister Gillian (Nicole Kidman). But the discovery of a long-lost book may hold the secret to breaking the Owens’ family curse once and for all.

Review:

It’s fair to say that 1998’s Practical Magic felt like a self-contained story that brought the character arcs of the Owens Sisters – Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) – full circle, narratively speaking. As such, Practical Magic 2 has to do some back-peddling in a slightly clunky prologue in order to set up events for this belated sequel – so Sally’s ‘happily ever after’ with Gary is quickly undone, as is her acceptance of her magical inheritance (which was arguably her main character thread in the first film). With Sally’s character development reset, and her children now more unaware than ever of their own magical destinies, it’s only Gillian who’s allowed to retain her character progression from the first film as she now adopts the role of the ‘fun aunt’ to Sally’s daughters Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams).

Now in fairness to the filmmakers, Practical Magic 2 is based on The Book of Magic, the 2021 sequel novel to 1995’s original Practical Magic novel – and so (having not read The Book of Magic) I assume that a lot of these character and plot points originated in the source novel. Nevertheless, I couldn’t shake the feeling that, to a large extent, the end of the original Practical Magic was being undone just to justify the sequel having some reason to exist.

“…nice to spend time revisiting these characters…”

I should declare that I do have a soft spot for the original 1998 movie – it has its flaws, but I saw it during a formative period in my life and always think of it fondly ... and I’ll also add that it’s still held up on several rewatches over the years (including a recent one in the run up to the release of this sequel). Perhaps for that reason, I did enjoy Practical Magic 2 even if only because it was nice to spend time revisiting these characters – and Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman still make a great onscreen pairing as the bickering Owens Sisters. But if you’re not already a fan of the series, and you’re coming to Practical Magic 2 with fresh (and objective) eyes, I’m not sure how much enjoyment you’re likely to get out of this movie.

The basic plot to this sequel is fine (once you get passed the retconning of the end of the original film), but some of its execution is clumsy to say the least. Perhaps this is most clearly illustrated in the subplot involving Lee Pace as an academic of the history of magic, who is shoehorned into the story as a potential love interest for Sally. I love Lee Pace as an actor, but his character here is so thinly developed that it’s almost as if the filmmakers thought giving him a lot of tattoos was a viable alternative to an actual character or personality. And don’t get me started on his “British” accent – in fact, this movie’s depictions of modern life in Britain make you wonder if the filmmakers think Britain is still stuck in the 1950s outside of central London...

“…the MVP of the movie was Joey King…”

But despite the plot’s shortcomings (and you’ll spot the “villain” of the movie a mile away), the positives come from the central characters. For me, the MVP of the movie was Joey King, as Sally’s eldest daughter Kylie. Joey King has to do most of the emotional heavy lifting in the movie, but more than that, I don’t think the plot (what little there is of it) works at all unless her performance takes the audience along with her on her emotional journey. I thought she was excellent in the role and elevated the material she was given, and much of what works in the movie works because of her performance. Between this role and her performance in Bullet Train, she’s building up an impressively varied résumé.

Sadly, in comparison Maisie Williams gets very little to do as Antonia, Sally’s youngest daughter, but I guess that’s fair enough given that this is essentially Kylie’s story. But even then, for a series that’s built around the notion of sisterhood, it’s perhaps a shame that we didn’t see more of Kylie and Antonia together as sisters, especially as they are so great together when they are. The biggest selling point of this movie is the sistership between Sandra Bullock’s Sally and Nicole Kidman’s Gillian (and they are great whenever they’re onscreen together), and it’s nice that that theme of sisterhood is also carried into a plot thread involving ‘the aunts’ from the first film, Aunt Jet (Dianne Wiest) and Aunt Franny (Stockard Channing).

“…enjoyed the nostalgic moments…”

The movie works best when it focuses on the interactions between the central cast, and in particular, the sisterly pairings of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, Joey King and Maisie Williams, and Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing. Their interactions are where the movie feels most alive, and in that respect, it’s a shame that the movie didn’t spotlight that element even more than it does. The romantic subplot with Lee Pace’s character could have been completely removed from this movie without any detrimental impact (IMHO), and if anything, it might have helped the movie to feel a little more focused.

As things stand, Practical Magic 2 is quite unfocused and a bit of a jumble, rather than being a bad film per se. As a fan of the original, I found enough to enjoy in the nostalgic moments with the returning characters (as well as in Joey King’s unexpectedly pivotal performance), but if you’re not already bringing pre-existing affection for the characters with you, this is unlikely to impress you much.