Practical Magic 2
There’s no more magic – or laughs – in the belated sequel to the 1998 comic fantasy which also featured Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as sibling white witches.
Bewitched, bemused: Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman
Image courtesy of Warner Bros.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
The title of this belated sequel hardly inspires much confidence. Practical Magic 2 is actually adapted from Alice Hoffman’s The Book of Magic, the 2021 follow-up to the author’s Practical Magic of 1995, which spawned a series of like-minded volumes. The magic of the new film, which arrives 28 years after the first, is that both its stars, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, are still at the top of their game and look absolutely fabulous, although Ms Bullock is beginning to resemble a waxwork of Michael Jackson. Here, Sally and Gillian Owens are still grappling with the spell that has turned into a curse, precipitating an early death for every man they fall in love with.
You see, Sally and Gillian are white witches and the former (Bullock) now has two father-less daughters, Kylie (Joey King) and medical student Antonia (Maisie Williams), who have no clue about their ill-fated legacy. So, when the former finds true love in the form of the sweet and handsome Gideon (Xolo Maridueña), he is hit by a car the very next day and ends up in hospital in a coma. But there’s hope at the end of the tunnel as Aunt Jet (Dianne Wiest) has stumbled across a magic tome with instructions on how to break the family jinx, leading to a ruined manor in England. Kylie steals the book and heads to London, leaving Antonia with the strict directive not to leave Gideon’s bedside.
The first film, directed by Griffin Dunne, was a corny and over-the-top affair, so with the acclaimed Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier taking over the directorial reins, one hoped for something smarter and more engaging. Alas, the artificiality of the original remains, drenched in Rupert Gregson-Williams’ oppressively emotional music, with Sandra Bullcok and Nicole Kidman attempting a sort of comic double-act, like a female Laurel and Hardy, which fails to ignite a solitary chuckle. While Nicole looks more human than her famous co-star, Ms Bullock does at least land a couple of titters, but not enough to rescue the absurdity of this preposterous farce.
The themes of family, love and death wrestle to make themselves felt, while Jet’s sister Frances (Stockard Channing) assures us that, “no magic is stronger than sisterhood.” There is an engaging male lead in the form of Lee Pace as a handsome professor of magic called Ian Wright (no relation to the footballer of the same name), who is released from his own debilitating curse by Sally. It is unfortunate, though, that he references Sam and Molly as being one of the great couples of popular fiction, as it casts this film in a poor light next to the superior romantic fantasy Ghost. Meanwhile, poor Antonia is still tending to Gideon, not having left his bedside for several days, apparently without snacks or bathroom breaks. Her dedication to duty makes a mockery of the NHS.
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Joey King, Lee Pace, Maisie Williams, Xolo Maridueña, Dianne Wiest, Stockard Channing, Solly McLeod, Diana Quick.
Dir Susanne Bier, Pro Denise Di Novi, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, Ex Pro Alice Hoffman and Kelly Marcel, Screenplay Akiva Goldsman, Georgia Pritchett and Kelly Marcel, from the novel The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman, Ph Simon Duggan, Pro Des Tom Burton, Ed Sam Williams, Music Rupert Gregson-Williams, Costumes Alexandra Byrne, Sound Glenn Freemantle and Ben Barker, Dialect coaches Thom Jones and Lottie Williams-Burrell.
Alcon Entertainment/Di Novi Pictures/Fortis Films/Blossom Films-Warner Bros.
129 mins. USA. 2026. US Rel: 10 September 2026. UK Rel: 11 September 2026. Cert. 12A.
