Practical Magic 2

 

This review may contain spoilers!

Practical Magic 2 adapts Alice Hoffman's novel 'The Book of Magic' and serves as the sequel to Practical Magic (1998). In this film, Sally's daughters are all grown up and have no memory that their family practises magic. However, when Kylie falls in love and her boyfriend is sent into a life-threatening coma, she steals a cursed book in an effort to save him. As Kylie tumbles into a magical world she doesn't know, Sally and Gillian rush to save her.

There's a weirdly authentic return to the 90s throughout most of the film; not a yearning for nor a love letter to the 90s. This was a 90s film dressed in modern-day finery. Practical Magic 2 is a portal back to another time for filmmaking, warts and all. This was a gentle fantasy film, paired with romance, adventure and family elements. All these elements simmered together slowly over the course of the film: a veritable quest to save an Owens woman from her own misadventure and broken heart. You get those trademarks of the 90s along with this: forced romance subplots, a really silly but sincere type of humour and these long exchanges of dialogue that rarely push the plot forward but give you the chance to live in the world a little. What I loved the absolute most when watching this was that this is a film that is pretty unabashed about tackling things character and theme first. The Owens women are the heart of this feature, and they are constantly displaying a deep love for one another. There is a celebration in their sense of family, a tie that goes incredibly deep. Watching them recreate the iconic umbrella scene from the roof should tug on most viewers' heartstrings.

The problem this film makes by stepping back in time is that it is doomed to repeat many of the mistakes of the past. Practical Magic 2 is quite a slog at the best of times; it has no sense of urgency to the threat our protagonists face, nor does it feel particularly purposeful with the pace of its storytelling. The start of the film is a really jumbled reintroduction to familiar faces while loosely tying in an important plot element via a character death. The film is then quite a slow chase for a range of characters, with dawdling romance along the way. The film deals with memory-loss plots, the classic family curse, Sally falling in love (again!) and, probably most annoyingly, introduces an overly convoluted antagonist (Solly McLeod) who is trying to steal the Owens family magic. It's a busy watch, and you feel that sense of being too scattered, too messy, to come together. Rather than learn from the original, pay tribute and try something new, this is just completely making similar narrative choices. Even Sandra Bullock as Sally Owens feels a bit outdated. Bullock looks like she is struggling to re-engage with the material; her habit of stammering through lines or only pushing out half a line to appear flustered wears thin.

Bullock isn't the only returning cast member who struggles to recapture the magic. Dianne Wiest returns as Aunt Jet, and it is a rare scene where I felt like she perfectly understood what was happening around her. Wiest just seemed a bit out of sorts and lost, which made for a bit of an awkward start to the feature. Maisie Williams was cast as Antonia, one of Sally's daughters. But Williams is essentially abandoned from the main storyline very early on, and never gets a chance to really stand out. By contrast, Joey King, who plays Sally's other daughter, Kylie, really does well in this film. King has really had a myriad of roles over the years, but she proves capable as an Owens woman with a broken heart trying to find her own way. Some of the best witches in the film had varying screen time. Stockard Channing's return as Aunt Franny is a complete contrast to Wiest. Channing has a quick wit, plays eccentricity well and manages to be this emotional caretaker for her small family. The other witch I had in mind is Nicole Kidman, who plays Gilly, and gives what I consider the best performance of the feature. She is so magnetic, effortlessly wild and manages a wicked sense of silliness and humour. There are also a couple of romantic leads in Maridueña and Pace; the former feels a bit generic, and the latter has no chemistry with Bullock whatsoever. Watching Lee Pace hand Sandra Bullock a gravy train filled with custard as a romantic gesture was bizarre.

There is a clear visual upgrade this time around; the magic is used more often, and it looks great. The visual effects really are quite polished and never too lofty, even when the film descends into a ridiculous magic off with the bad guy. While the cameras that are being used are vastly more modern, the visual style is markedly poor. There are so many shots here with ugly framing, scrabbling to keep things in the shot or just showing a general lack of creativity with what should be fantastical material. The editing doesn't always splice a scene together nicely either; there are some sequences that make the navigation of a setting poorer. Yet, moments like the musical score harkening back to the adventurous and whimsical style of the 90s are really special. Even the soundtrack, with its collection of iconic female artists ballading their raw power for the world, feels potent. Nothing is quite as iconic as 'Coconut' sung by Harry Nilsson. Midnight margaritas, baby!

In spite of a big, swirly magic third-act showdown, this remains a beautiful continuation about family and sisterhood. I would give Practical Magic 2 a 6.5/10.