Twenty-eight years ago, two sisters came together to bury an abusive ex, drink midnight margaritas and remember how to fall in love again. They conquered their differences, learned how to celebrate each other and faced what it truly meant to step into their own power. And critics hated it. But over time, director Griffin Dunne’s “Practical Magic” became a cult classic spanning generations. Now, it joins a growing trend of legacy sequels seeking to recapture the magic that sparked all those years ago. In its heart, Susanne Bier’s “Practical Magic 2” rekindles that magic with ease, but there are a couple of technical struggles that hold it back from being exceptional.
As made evident in their thorough press tour, stars Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock have not skipped a beat as Gillian and Sally Owens. Some ease of this comes from the fact that, perhaps disappointingly, the sisters are pretty much exactly the same as when viewers left them nearly three decades ago. Gilly’s still free spirited and flirty, and Sally, after losing yet another husband, is wound up tighter than a jungle gym screw. The rest, though, is sheer, unflappable chemistry between two actresses that clearly adore each other.
When Gary (formerly played by Aidan Quinn, but unseen in “Practical Magic 2”) dies, Sally casts a spell that erases both of her daughters’ memory of magic, swears off it herself, sells her herb shop and takes up life as a librarian. Gilly and aunts Frances (Stockard Channing) and Jet (Dianne Wiest) are sworn to secrecy, forbidden from ever revealing their witchy natures to the youngest Owens women. Of course, as we learned back in 1998, burying anything prematurely rarely works out the way you hope it will.
“Practical Magic 2” recasts Sally’s daughters. While Kylie and Antonia were once played by Evan Rachel Wood and Alexandra Artrip respectively, Joey King and Maisie Williams step in for those roles in this sequel. Both young actresses give respectable performances individually, but they’re not given much opportunity to come together in the way that the later generations of Owens women do. Though the original film is very much about sisterhood, this sequel sends Kylie off on a side quest to end the curse that keeps her separated from Antonia, which ends up composing the bulk of her story.
Here’s where “Practical Magic 2” gets a little bit tricky. On the one hand, a story about sisterhood should be about sisterhood, and Antonia should be a bigger part of Kylie’s journey. On the other, no one is interested in seeing Sally, Gilly or the aunts sidelined. As structured, Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel’s script isn’t much of an ensemble piece either, which can seem limiting to the characters. As a solution, King’s Kylie is often alongside Bullock and Kidman through the film. As the Owens’ youngest free-spirit, Kylie learns of her mother’s lies and finds herself entangled in dark powers that threaten to take away all of the Owens’ magic for good.
It’s in that magic where the film’s second hurdle becomes evident. “Practical Magic 2” relies on more digital imagery than the first, giving some visible attributes to the Owens’ powers. Unfortunately, most of these special effects read as hokey and, in some cases, simply look bad. It’s a pity, because it distracts from the otherwise heartfelt moments it’s being used during, even if the film’s central villain, Tom Lockland, is lackluster at best (by no fault of actor Solly McLeod).
Though the youngest Owens’ stories and the magical effects surrounding them are lacking, “Practical Magic 2” makes up for it with Franny and Jet. If “Practical Magic” holds any piece of your heart, Channing and Wiest will leave you in shambles here. Though the opportunity for a tight-knit ensemble piece is limited by the structure of the existing story, we are following the lives of three generations of Owens women, fully embodying the principle of the mother, maiden and crone that is so central to witchcraft.
As can be inferred, Franny and Jet — the crones — are at the end of their mortal lives. Exploring what that means with such grace is the greatest strength of “Practical Magic 2.” At no point is either woman frail, wanting or lost. Their autonomy is paramount to the story and their arcs are treated with the utmost respect.
Of course, the secret sauce to “Practical Magic” is always going to come down to Sally and Gilly. Though the focus isn’t as central to them as it was in the original, this is still very much their story — particularly Sally’s. It could be said that watching the lead find love all over again is redundant, but to that I’d simply offer: what if she was falling in love with Lee Pace in one of his hottest performances?
Well-earned swooning aside, it’s in Pace’s character, Ian Wright, alongside the immaculate handling of Jet and Franny’s stories that “Practical Magic 2” showcases how essential it can be to have a female director in Bier handling this kind of film. Though what’s romantically en vogue throughout the eras certainly plays a part in character depictions, Pace’s Professor Wright is fundamentally different from Gary yet still unquestionably masculine. However, Bier’s direction tells that man to yearn and he yearned. Wright is head over heels for Sally from the start and has absolutely no qualms showing it. In an overstuffed film, the connection between Sally and Ian should mean nothing. However, Pace and Bullock’s unrelenting chemistry demands buy-in from the start.
Despite some warts, Bier’s “Practical Magic 2” brings the sisters, the aunts and a relentlessly charming Pace together in a flawed but magical film that will not let go of your face until you remember to always throw spilt salt over your left shoulder, keep rosemary by your garden gate, plant lavender for luck and fall in love whenever you can.
Only time will tell if “Practical Magic 2” has the staying power of its (also flawed) predecessor. But as far as this witch is concerned, the cast and crew deliver more than enough reasons to head to the theater, pick up a midnight margarita and get swept away all over again.
“Practical Magic 2” releases to theaters Sept. 11.
