2.5 out of 5 Midnight Margaritas (decent)
I would have been perfectly fine without a sequel to 1998’s Practical Magic, but you could do worse than Practical Magic 2. The original was a bridge into more mature stories for me with its mixture of wit, sentimentality, and dark fantasy drama, and this follow-up continues in those witchy footsteps while suffering from a less-than-magically-constructed story.
Y’all ready for this?: Decades ago, a witch scorned by her lover put a curse on all future women in her lineage that their own Prince Charmings would die horrendous deaths. 20-ish years ago, her descendent Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock) lost her 2nd husband to this curse, renounced magic, and erased her young daughters’ memories of their bewitching heritage, swearing her sister Gillian (Nicole Kidman) to keep the black cat in the bag. To this day, those daughters Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams) are none the wiser, though the former has fallen for the sexy Gideon (Xolo Mariduena, Cobra Kai).
When the curse knocks Gideon into a coma, through a series of convoluted circumstances, Kylie discovers she’s a witch, finds a magic book upstairs suggesting a way to end said curse and giving her visions of someone who can help her do it, and flies to London to find that person. Followed by the ever-anxious Sally and cool aunt Jillian (Antonia may as well not be here), the Owens will discover more about themselves than ever before. Oh, did I mention there’s a new hot love interest in this story (played by Lee Pace) too?
Practical Magic 2 is disarmingly convoluted. There’s an entire plot element and characters I’ve omitted here, but this script needed some eye of newt and another pass to flow better. New director Susanne Bier sets an overall darker mood for the story while still allowing for levity, but the film often looks and feels like a higher-end Netflix show. Bullock and Kidman are still fun, though their characters feel dumbed down to neuroticism for Sally and wacky aunt for Gillian.
Most of the jokes hit, but unlike the similarly-overstuffed Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Magic’s lack of style makes the movie’s flaws more noticeable. The story takes awhile to get going and then feels oddly rushed and leaving several good ideas underexplored, but it’s watchable enough for a rainy Sunday at home for fans. Practical Magic 2 cooks a convoluted cauldron of laughs, drama, fantasy, and sentiment that doesn’t match its predecessor, but has just enough fun for the initiated. Stream it if you were interested, skip it otherwise.
Rated PG-13 for Some Violent Content, Suggestive Material and Brief Strong Language