Practical Magic 2 | Review

Light spoiler warning: I’ve kept the bigger story points out of this review, but there are a few references to scenes, character relationships and callbacks to the original film.

I was very late to the Practical Magic party. I only watched the original for the first time last year, after my flatmate was so horrified to discover I’d never seen it that she made me sit down and watch it with her. And I loved it.

So I don’t have nearly 30 years of nostalgia attached to Sally and Gillian Owens, but the first film is still pretty fresh in my mind. That made me really interested to see what they could do with a sequel so many years later, especially when so much of the original’s charm comes from its very specific feeling. The house, the family, the warmth, the slightly messy magic. I wanted nostalgia, but I didn’t want two hours of callbacks and shiny CGI.

Thankfully, Practical Magic 2 mostly gets that balance right.

What surprised me was how much spookier it feels. Somehow the original involves an abusive boyfriend being killed, brought back from the dead and then killed again, yet this one still had me shuddering a couple of times and there was definitely a moment where I thought, oooh, okay, this is a little more grown up than the first one.

That works though. The people who grew up watching Practical Magic have grown up too, and the sequel seems to understand that – the humour feels aimed at an older audience now, especially when Sally and Gillian start taking shots at each other’s love lives (or lack of).

Sally and Gillian are still the best part

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman slip back into Sally and Gillian incredibly easily.

Their relationship has changed over the years and you can feel some strain between them, but the closeness is still there. They bicker, interrupt each other constantly and know exactly which buttons to push. Their chemistry is fantastic because the film lets them feel like actual sisters rather than forcing everything to be sweet and sentimental. They annoy each other, they misunderstand each other, and they are still able to love each other fiercely.

The rest of the Owens family fits around them nicely too. Joey King’s Kylie is mostly the focus and I thought she was great, while Maisie Williams’ Antonia feels a little underused, so I was left feeling like she could have done more. I did struggle a little with both actresses to begin with though, just because their previous roles are so well known, but once the whole family is together, it works. Everyone fits into that chaotic Owens energy, and the smaller family moments ended up being my favourite parts of the movie.

The Aunts are also there just enough. They don’t feel like they’ve been wheeled out purely for nostalgia, and their return has some real emotional weight. But fair warning, this one may also be a tear jerker.

It still feels like Practical Magic

There are plenty of familiar touches for fans, including the porch light, the roof and, of course, Midnight Margaritas featuring the Coconut song.

The soundtrack in general works well, with a few moments that had me humming along or tapping my foot, but I liked that the movie didn’t constantly stop to remind you that you were watching a sequel to something you already loved.

The magic also still feels warm and natural rather than overly polished. Sally has spent years hiding that part of herself, particularly because of her daughters, so there’s a lot happening emotionally when she reconnects with it.

I actually wish the film had explained that side of her story a little better. It’s referenced, but there were moments where I understood the general idea without fully understanding what Sally herself was experiencing. That’s a shame because there’s something really interesting underneath it. This is a story about fear, trauma and what happens when you’ve spent years hiding parts of yourself because you thought that was the safest way to live.

Eventually, you have to live a little. Or maybe learn to live a lot.

The romance needed more time

This was probably the weakest part of the sequel for me. One thing the original did really well was make you understand why these women fell for the men they did. The chemistry felt grounded, and you could see why the relationships mattered.

Here, I don’t think the audience gets enough time to fall for the men too. I liked Lee Pace as Ian, and Sally around him was hilariously relatable. Her awkward flirting is weird, nervous and completely endearing, while Ian seems to know exactly what’s happening and enjoys it.

I wanted him to be a good guy, and I wanted them to work. The problem is that things become intense between them very quickly. Nothing happened, there’s no explicit warning, but it was meant to be the “instant chemistry / love (or lust) at first sight” vibe, and I just don’t think it landed. Ian needed a little more development, and the relationship could have used more breathing room before asking us to become fully invested.

The younger romance has a similar issue. Love and the Owens curse matter so much to the story that the romantic relationships need to carry real emotional weight, and I never quite felt like they got enough time to do that.

A slightly clunky start, then it finds its feet

The opening takes a little while to settle, with quite a bit of set-up and a lingering why is this only happening now? question that probably could have been answered with slightly tidier storytelling. It never bothered me enough to affect my enjoyment though, and once the main story gets moving, the movie flows much better and I found myself properly invested in what was happening.

So, should you see it?

Yes.

Especially if you already enjoy the first film. I do think you should watch the original first though! You could probably follow the basic plot without it, but you’d lose a lot of the fun. References to the family curse and the rose bush mean more when you know their history, and jokes about Gillian’s romantic past land much better when you’ve actually met 1998 Gillian.

So just go in with the right expectations. This isn’t trying to be a technically perfect, Oscar-worthy piece of cinema. It’s a sequel to a 90s favourite about witchcraft, sisterhood, love, trauma and figuring out how to keep living when fear has shaped so much of your life.

And honestly, that’s enough. The original fans should find plenty to enjoy, and if you’re newer to the series like I am, there’s still enough heart here to make the return worthwhile.

Do I think there should be a Practical Magic 3? … No.  I’m happy with where they’ve left it, and I’m not sure there’s another story that could connect back to the original two films without eventually feeling like they were making another sequel simply because they could.

Would I still watch a third one? … Obviously.

But I’m a sucker for silly movies and can usually find something to enjoy even when everyone else decides a movie is terrible, so maybe don’t let me make that decision for Hollywood.

For now though, I’m happy with the all of the Practical Magic we’ve been given. It’s warm, funny, occasionally creepy and full of heart, and it remembers that the best part of this world has always been the Owens women themselves.

Rating: 7/10

 

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