The Owens sisters are back: Is it worth watching Practical Magic 2
28 years later, Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman once again played the witch sisters Sally and Gillian Owens in the sequel to the cult romantic comedy Practical Magic. The film was shown in selected foreign cinemas on September 10, and international distribution will start on September 11. What the new part tells about, which of the actors returned to their roles and whether the creators managed to repeat the success of the original — in the Izvestia material.
What is the movie "Practical Magic 2" about
The sequel takes place 25 years after the events of the first picture. The Owens family is once again at the center of the story, whose women have been living under the influence of a love curse for more than three centuries: the men they fall in love with are doomed to premature death.
This time, the curse begins to threaten a new generation of the family. Kylie Owens, Sally's daughter, learns the truth about her origins and discovers she has dark magical abilities. To save someone close to her and put an end to the curse, she turns to her mother, sister Antonia, Aunt Gillian, and great-aunts Franny and Jet for help.
The investigation of the family history takes the Owens women beyond the familiar home in Massachusetts. Some of the heroines go to the UK, where their magic originated and their ancestor Maria Owens practiced the mysterious art. Thus, the sequel turns the chamber family story of the first part into a larger journey related to the origin of the family. At the same time, the main conflict remains the same: the heroines must understand whether it is possible to get rid of the curse without losing the gift itself, which unites the women of their family.
What happened in the first "Practical Magic"
The first film was released in 1998 and was based on the novel of the same name by the American writer Alice Hoffman. The main characters Sally and Gillian Owens lost their parents at an early age and grew up in the home of eccentric aunts Franny and Jet. They were the ones who told the girls about the family's magical heritage and taught them how to use their unusual abilities.
The characters of the sisters turned out to be different. The cautious Sally dreamed of a quiet life and tried to stay away from magic, while the impulsive Gillian was constantly looking for love and adventure. However, both had to reckon with the ancient curse imposed by their ancestor Maria Owens after an unhappy love affair.
Sally still got married and had two daughters, but soon lost her husband. Meanwhile, Gillian found herself in a relationship with the violent Jimmy Angelov. The sisters' attempt to escape from him led to a murder, an unsuccessful resurrection, and the appearance of a vengeful ghost.
His heroines were helped to win not only by magical abilities, but also by other women of the city. The finale turned a story about witches and a love curse into a story about sisterhood, mutual support, and acceptance of one's own nature.
Who played in the sequel
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman returned to the roles of Sally and Gillian. For Bullock, the sequel was the first major work after a break in her career. Both actresses also served as executive producers of the film and participated in the formation of its creative team.
Stockard Channing and Diane Wiest once again played Aunts Franny and Jet. Their return was especially important for keeping in touch with the original: the heroines' home, household magic, and free parenting rules largely shaped the recognizable atmosphere of the first part.
Sally's daughters were played by Joey King and Maisie Williams in the second film. King played the role of Kylie, around whose abilities and romantic history the main conflict is built. Williams appeared as her sister Antonia. Lee Pace, Sholo Mariduenha and Solly MacLeod have also joined the new cast.
Bullock and Kidman noted that their relationship has also changed over the past decades. In an interview with People, they said that they supported each other during difficult periods of their lives, and working together on the sequel allowed them to become even closer.
"We are a lifeline for each other," Bullock described their relationship.
Why did other actresses play Sally's daughters?
In the first Practical Magic, Kylie was played by Evan Rachel Wood, and Antonia was played by Alexandra Artrip. However, the creators of the sequel decided to replace both performers. The choice of Joey King and Maisie Williams has raised questions from fans of the original.
Evan Rachel Wood said that she was ready to return even for one episode, but received an answer that the role would be given to another actress. At the same time, she wished good luck to King and emphasized that she retained fond memories of filming the first picture.
Director Suzanne Beer explained the rearrangement by the age of the characters. In the new story, Sally's daughters have just graduated from college, so the return of the former performers would not correspond to the chronology.
"It wasn't a personal decision. According to the story, the girls had just graduated from college, so we had to replace the actresses," Beer explained in an interview with Variety.
Joey King, in turn, asked the audience not to draw conclusions before watching the film. According to the actress, she understood the responsibility associated with the cult status of the original, and tried to respect the history of the Owens family.
Which book formed the basis of the film
The sequel is partly based on Alice Hoffman's novel The Book of Magic, published in 2021. This is the fourth and final book in a series about the Owens family. In addition to the 1995 novel Practical Magic, the series includes The Rules of Magic, which tells about Franny and Jet's youth, and Magic Lessons, the story of Maria Owens, who began a family gift and a love curse.
In The Book of Magic, three generations of Owens women travel from the United States to Europe to rescue a young man and break the curse. Their journey takes them to London and the English countryside, where Maria Owens first began practicing magic.
The film borrows the main idea, several characters and European geography from the novel, but does not reproduce the book literally. The creators changed the age of Sally's daughters, redistributed the roles between the characters and built an independent story that should be understandable to viewers who are not familiar with the entire literary series.
How "Practical Magic" became a Cult film
The first part could not be called an absolute success after its release. It started in the American box office from the first place, but eventually collected about $ 68.3 million worldwide. According to The Numbers, the production budget was approximately $60 million, not counting the cost of promotion.
Critics also received the film coolly. They didn't understand how to relate to the film, which simultaneously combined a romantic comedy, a family drama, a detective story, a story about domestic violence and a mystery thriller. What later became the main feature of "Practical Magic" was perceived as a disadvantage in 1998.
Bullock recalled that during the promotion of the film, she was regularly asked why so many female characters were needed in one film. The actress was surprised by this reaction, as the story attracted her precisely by the lack of the usual rivalry between the heroines.
"This is a love story between two women who don't steal each other's husbands or betray each other. It's about support," Bullock explained.
The film gained real popularity later due to its television shows, video release and streaming platforms. For several generations of viewers, Practical Magic has become an autumn classic along with Halloween movies, although the story itself is much broader than a seasonal witch movie.
The audience was attracted by the Owens house, the costumes, the music, the midnight margarita cooking scene, and the chemistry between Bullock and Kidman. But the main element turned out to be the relationships of women from different generations. Male characters could appear and disappear, while the family remained a constant point of support.
What critics say about the sequel
The first assessments of Practical Magic 2 turned out to be restrained. Most reviewers agreed that the main advantage of the picture remains the interaction of Bullock and Kidman. Stockard Channing, Diane Wiest and Joey King also received positive reviews.
At the same time, the reviewers point to an overloaded script, about 130 minutes in length, and too many storylines. Some critics did not like that the key characters spend a significant part of the film separately from each other: because of this, the sequel loses the family dynamics that formed the basis of the first part.
Other complaints include the rapid development of events, insufficiently revealed new characters, and an attempt to simultaneously reproduce a familiar atmosphere and increase the scale of the story. Reviewers also note that visually, the film has retained the autumn palette, romantic costumes and fabulous architecture, but the feeling of domestic magic has become weaker.
The overall tone of the reviews is rather negative, although the film did not cause complete disappointment. Even critical authors admit that the sisters' relationship and the theme of women's solidarity are still able to hold the story together.
Is it worth watching Practical Magic 2
The sequel is primarily intended for viewers who care not about the rules of the magical universe, but about the return of the Owens family. It offers a meeting with Bullock, Kidman, Channing and Whist, expands the story of the curse and shows what happened to the heroines after a quarter of a century.
For those who expect an independent and strictly structured fantasy from the second part, the picture may seem drawn out and overloaded. However, for fans of the original, family stories and romantic "witchy" aesthetics, the film gives the main thing — the opportunity to once again find themselves in a world where magic manifests itself not only in spells, but also in the ability of women to protect each other.
On August 28, Medialogia presented the Russian series rating for July of this year. The leader among the 30 projects was the Russian novelty "The Story of his Handmaid", which scored 2,325 points. The second place was taken by the American TV series "House of the Dragon" (1824 points), and the third place was taken by the Russian project "Cold" (1580 points). The top five also included "Boys" (1546 points) and anime "Magic Battle" (1352 points).
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