‘Practical Magic 2’ movie review: Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman provide the enchantment in bland sequel

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Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock in ‘Practical Magic 2’ | Photo Credit: Warner Bros/YouTube

This sequel to the 1998 film (was it really that long ago?) eschews the wild tonal shifts of that film for a straightforward romantic fantasy. Practical Magic 2 is based on Alice Hoffman’s The Book of Magic (2021), which itself is a sequel to her 1995 novel, Practical Magic , on which the first film is based.

Doing away with the serial killer that refuses to stay dead results in a rather vanilla movie about family curses and the love that can finally overcome them.

Susanne Bier, who has helmed edgy movies and shows including Bird Box and The Night Manager , seems unsure of committing either to the dark side of obsession and magic or the candy floss world of a rom-com, and so even though there are no abusive boyfriends or self-destructive behaviour, we are left with a movie which is neither a sinister dissertation on love nor a fluffy girl-meets-boy story.

Nicole Kidman and Joey King in ‘Practical Magic 2’ | Photo Credit: Warner Bros/YouTube

The Owens’ family curse, cast by an ancestor whose heart was broken, holds strong though the Owens’ sisters, Sally (Sandra Bullock) and Gillian (Nicole Kidman) thought they had broken it. After Sally loses her second husband, she decides to reject the family’s heritage of witchcraft and magic and hide it from her daughters, Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams).

Kylie, like Gillian before her, is free-spirited and studying art while Antonia is sensible and training to become a nurse. Sally lives with her eccentric aunts, Jet (Dianne Wiest) and Franny (Stockard Channing). When Kylie confesses her love to Gideon (Xolo Maridueña), he is hit by a car and falls into a coma. Kylie learns about her dark heritage and decides to go to England to lift the curse and get Gideon back.

There are ravens, Grimoire (what a dire-sounding word) spells, a handsome academic and a warlock with a grudge. While the magic is definitely in short supply, Kidman and Bullock’s charm and chemistry props up the movie magnificently.

Any time you find your attention wandering, you only have to look at these stunning, talented women and you are smiling again. Though why Gillian lugs these enormous suitcases across the length and breadth of England bumping them over flights of wooden staircases does not make much sense.

Nicole Kidman in ‘Practical Magic 2’ | Photo Credit: Warner Bros/YouTube

There are not even that many costume changes to justify the massive bags. Gillian surely could have left them at the charming Ian’s (Lee Pace) house and taken the essentials in a knapsack to Thornfield? Rachel and Ross (from Friends ), with Sam and Molly (from Ghost ) being counted as an eternal love story was cute.

The film seems to follow the soldiers’ motto of hurry up and wait.