Practical Magic 2 An Odd Addition

John M. Delia Jr

2 days ago

2 min read

This cute and entertaining journey is about a family of witches living in the Boston area, who keep their powers a secret except for a few fans, and enjoy what life brings them. Following in the same footsteps as the original, the sequel moves into the past explaining their knowledge of the history of their magical powers, and to become more detailed surrounding the family curse placed on all the women of the family. This new adventure includes three generations of the Owen's women experiencing things together as they face new challenges.

Dealing with the family's long-standing curse, Sally Owens (Sandra Bullock), the oldest sister of the middle generation, decides to cast a spell that helps her forget her powers in hopes of removing the curse from her children. After losing her second husband she wants to try and attempt to allow for her girls, Kylie Owens (Joey King), Sally’s eldest daughter, and Antonia Owens (Maisie Williams), Sally’s youngest daughter, to experience life to the fullest by being able to love without consequences. Gillian Owens (Nicole Kidman), a witch and Sally's younger sister, wants to tell her nieces about what they will face if they truly love another, but abides by her sister's wishes and does not.

The eldest sisters and the aunts to Sally and Gillian, Bridget "Jet" Owens (Dianne Wiest), a softer personality, is preparing for an upcoming event, while her more brazen sister, Frances Owens (Stockard Channing), knows what is coming and is waiting to see what will happen. These two keep the narrative on track and bring in new and fascinating details. Also introduced during the film is Ian Wright (Lee Pace), an academic warlock that studies the history of magic, Gideon (Xolo Mariduena), and Thomas Lockland (Solly McLeod).

Director Susanne Bier develops an interesting interpretation based on The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman. She attempts to tribute the first edition but goes off the deep end and finishes in a strange but corny way. Most of the movie is enjoyable and detailed and continues to deliver a challenging exploit for our heroes. There are some slow parts throughout that delivers the needed details to keep the quest moving. As for the cast, they are beautiful and successful, portraying their characters and keeping with the tradition of the book's theme.

Now, back in Massachusetts and centering around the area's witch theme, this tale attempts to try and go deep into the family secrets that ends with a celebrated outcome. This is a definite fan motion picture that wants to relive the lives of their favorite personalities, but for the rest it's a romantic comedy that doesn’t live up to the grade.