I think the key thing to remember before you read about my thoughts on Practical Magic 2 is that I didn’t know what a ‘Practical Magic’ was until they announced they were making the film with the original cast returning.

When I was invited to the press preview for this, I decided to boot up the original on Netflix and make it the Friday-night flat-screen viewing.  I thought the original was a very dated and boring mess, which tried to do far too many things at once, mixing genres of Rom-Com, Witchcraft, family drama, with domestic abuse and American Psycho levels of evading the cops. The flat didn’t get on with it, and neither did I, and so I went into the sequel sceptical but excited by the promise of margheritas.

PM2 reunites the audience with the Owens sisters and their now-young-adult children. They’re still cursed to be loveless forever, but using the power of sisterhood, they may be able to reverse the spell for good. Joey King and Maisie Williams join the cast as the kids, and while King is given a country-crossing adventure, poor Williams is forced to spend most of the film in one room.

The film is pure nostalgia bait, and you can tell it takes great delight in referencing as many plot points from the first one as possible. All delivered by a very wooden Bullock or Kidman, but with a knowing smirk to the camera.

You can really tell their heart isn’t in it so much that it rubs off onto the chemistry with Bullock’s love interest, Lee Pace. There are exchanges so palpably awkward that they caused laughter and cringing during the press screening.

That said, I found more moments to enjoy in this film than in the first. I found myself laughing at a few one-liners and getting very invested in the relationship with King’s character, but this may have been Margherita’s fault.

The film is much more tonally consistent and less ‘every genre under the sun’ than the first film, which makes it much easier to follow and a lot less repellent. Fans of the original will find plenty to love here, with fan service and nostalgia, but for me, it was less than magical.

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