The long-awaited sequel Practical Magic 2 arrives in theaters on September 11, aiming to recapture the cozy, autumnal magic of its 1998 predecessor. While the return of Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as the cursed witch sisters Sally and Gillian Owens is a welcome sight, the film is ultimately hampered by a hyperactive screenplay that sacrifices the original's charm for a convoluted plot.
Twenty-eight years after the first film, which found cult success through the luminous performances of Bullock and Kidman as love-lorn, magically-inclined sisters, Practical Magic 2 sees them reunited with their aunts, Jet (Dianne Wiest) and Franny (Stockard Channing), in their Massachusetts home. The sequel draws primarily from Alice Hoffman's 2021 novel The Book of Magic, set approximately 20 years after the Owens witches publicly embraced their powers. Sally, now a town librarian and single mother to daughters Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams), has kept her girls unaware of their magical abilities due to the 300-year-old Owens curse that brings death to any man they love. However, Kylie's new relationship with Gideon (Xolo Maridueña) and the ominous chirping of a deathwatch beetle signal impending heartbreak and the spilling of secrets.
A curse-induced accident and the discovery of a tome by their ancestor Maria Owens, the creator of the curse, ignites a dramatic rift within the family. A furious Kylie confronts her mother for withholding their heritage and impulsively travels to England, seeking a way to save Gideon. A panicked Sally enlists Gillian's help to follow, recruiting a UK expert, Dr. Ian Wright (Lee Pace), to unravel the secrets of the Owens family history.
While the shift from the first film's single locale was intended to inject new life, the screenplay by Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett, and Kelly Marcel prioritizes an odd-couple travelogue over the insular charm and Wiccan lore that defined the original. Sally, played with palpable pain by Bullock, remains in emotional stasis, burdened by past losses. Kidman does her best as the more free-spirited Gillian, attempting to break down her sister's emotional walls, but the script offers her little beyond the role of frustrated keeper.
The performances of Bullock and Kidman shine brightest in the few rare moments they share quiet conversation, but these are overshadowed by the escalating chase for Kylie, which becomes bogged down in exposition about Maria Owens' past and the forces summoning Kylie. Lee Pace is introduced as Dr. Wright, but the material provided is underwhelming, reducing him to little more than eye candy with an unclear purpose, making the potential romantic chemistry with Sally feel forced and tonally inconsistent. The spark found between Sally and Aidan Quinn's Detective Gary Hallet in the original is notably absent.
A significant misstep in the sequel is the separation of the main cast. Bullock, Kidman, Pace, and King are largely confined to a chase narrative in England, with director Susanne Bier failing to imbue the locations or set pieces with the scale or fairy-tale charm of the original. Meanwhile, Channing, Williams, and Maridueña are relegated to a sparsely decorated hospital set. Maisie Williams, in particular, is given little to do, a disservice to the actress. Wiest and Channing, despite their considerable talents, are saddled with cliché fates.
Furthermore, the score by Rupert Gregson-Williams only alludes to Alan Silvestri's essential themes from the first film, leaning instead on reprises that lack the original's impact. Practical Magic 2 is not an irredeemable film, but it leaves the audience with the distinct impression that a more deeply considered and well-crafted sequel could have been conjured.