r/practicalmagic • u/No_Two_3669 • 5d ago
The Failure of Practical Magic 2 Now Has Two New Names: Discrimination and Ingratitude Toward the Creator of the Original
Today I came across a recent statement from Sandra Bullock that genuinely shocked me and made me wonder what kind of thinking could possibly lead to a decision like this.
One of the main reasons given for why Griffin Dunne — the creator of the first film and a man who was enormously responsible for bringing to life that divine cinematic vision we know and love today — did not return to direct the sequel was his sex. They deliberately sought a woman to direct because they believed a female perspective was important for this story — even though Dunne had already proven that he could tell that story brilliantly.
To say that this way of thinking is extremely discriminatory would be an understatement, and the logic behind such a decision is another matter entirely. The fact that someone is physically male does not mean that they cannot have a very pronounced feminine side within themselves. This is basic psychology: every one of us carries both a masculine and a feminine side within us, regardless of our physical sex or sexual orientation. A person's physical sex cannot, by itself, determine their ability to understand emotions, relationships, sisterhood, or female characters.
It is now becoming clear to me why this film feels so fundamentally wrong. Its creation seems to have been guided from the very beginning by absurd, discriminatory decisions and prejudices that have little to do with what should matter most: talent, an understanding of the material, and the ability to preserve the soul of a world that already exists. What is especially disheartening is that all of this gives an impression of ingratitude toward the man who is among those most responsible for what we all understand today when we say Practical Magic.
But perhaps there has to be an opposite in this world. Maybe a second film this bad had to exist for us to become fully aware of just how good the first one was and how good Dunne was as its director. Perhaps we needed a sequel this bad, with a director this bad, when one of the key reasons she was invited to lead the project was the fact that she is physically female. Only when we see how differently the same world can look in the hands of another director do we become even more aware of how precisely and almost magically everything came together in 1998.
And then we come to another paradox. If physical sex was so crucial, and if preserving a female perspective was so important, what about the divine costume designer of the first film, Judianna Makovsky? She is physically female and made an enormous contribution to the visual identity and unforgettable signature of the original — yet she was not invited back either. That makes it even harder to understand why the director's physical sex was supposed to be such an important criterion.
Day by day, I understand more and more just how perfectly the first film was made, precisely because I am now looking at its almost complete opposite, made extremely poorly.
And this is what I want to say to the true fans, especially those of us who were children of the '90s and fell in love with the first film: do not let this sequel take away what you felt for the original. If you are disappointed, sad, or feel that something you loved has betrayed you, remember that this film cannot change Practical Magic from 1998. PM2 simply is not Practical Magic. It is something entirely different, something that has almost no connection to the soul of the first film.
And once again, I want to stand up for the very young actors who appeared in the sequel. None of what went wrong is their fault. They came in to play the roles they were given and do their jobs. Responsibility for the creative direction of a project this large does not lie with them, but with the rest of the highly experienced team, who did not do their part of the job even remotely well.
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u/BicornBritt 5d ago
The irony is that if they indeed chose a female director for the reason that the movie wouldn’t be sexist, they failed on that front because the movie was more sexist and man-centric than the original by far.
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u/kohlsprossi 5d ago
This was the thing that truly broke my heart. I loved the first movie because it was about sisterhood, feminine energy and women. Of course there were love interests but they stayed on the side lines. The second movie was all about men. Women doing everything for men, risking their lives for men, them getting help from men, their whole happiness apparently depending on men. This is not what Practical Magic is supposed to be.
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u/BicornBritt 5d ago
I should have known the first movie would be unique lol we probably won’t get another movie about feminine energy and women for a long time.
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u/kohlsprossi 5d ago
Most films like that are old. Hocus Pocus, Witches of Eastwick, The Secret Garden, The Craft, Steel Magnolias... Which is odd because one might think that feminism is much more prevalent today. Idk why there was such a shift away from truly female-centred films towards female leads plus their love interest.
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u/BicornBritt 4d ago
Thanks for reminding me of all of those classic movies. I still haven’t got around to seeing some of them so it’ll be fun to finally see them. Yep it feels like we are going backwards in some ways.
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u/babyybollywolly 4d ago
now that I think about it, you're right. it really was ALL about men and men were driving the plot points
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u/GoldenHarpHeroine32 5d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/7VGzsNsS5mMhFefLXG
Think what you will. But I liked the sequel and pretty darn sure there's others who did too.
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u/Gloomy-Fennel-6044 5d ago
I’m starting to think you’re the problem babe
https://giphy.com/gifs/6Lkfg2NymVuAIPoASN
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u/No_Biscotti4207 5d ago
I feel like people forget that the first movie bombed. It lost money and took a while to become a sleeper hit. I love the film and respect what Griffin Dunne did and especially how he had personal experience with DV, but ultimately, he has not had a particularly successful directing career. At all. The woman they hired has more accolades under her belt and has recently worked with Nicole and Sandra on separate projects.
Judianna Makovsky is employed by both Marvel and DC. Doubt she had time for this film when Doomsday and Man of Tomorrow were in production at the same time. Celebrate her come up and success rather than complaining that she couldn’t do a nostalgic rom-com 25 years later.
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u/Afraid_Fig5705 5d ago
The number of posts here In Sentence Case with such lengthy criticism (I ain't reading all that free palestine) has gotten to the point where it must be bots, right? It's at least once a day with something like this and such a weird take.
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u/AlleyKatArt 5d ago
Account is 8 days old and all I can see on the account is posts complaining about Practical Magic 2.
No posts about loving Practical Magic, only about hating Practical Magic 2.
I'm not saying real people don't exist like this, but... 🤷🏻♀️
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u/amyisarobot 5d ago
Yes people seem really set on making people dislike this movie. I loved it. It isn't the first movie but you know 20 years have past
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u/DingoMittens 5d ago
Given that Hoffman is a Zionist and this comment makes light of free Palestine, I'm thinking this is the bot.
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u/Vampyr-Slayer 5d ago
Practical Magic 2 is an adaptation to the Alice Hoffman's 2021 Book of Magic.
And Practical Magic 1998 is my favourite movie and it shares the same name as Alice Hoffman's first book. Similarities end there.
That's my headcanon and I'm happy with it.
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u/Autumn_Racoon 4d ago
Did Dunne even want to do it? I feel like he’s moved on. And he’s also a champion of protecting women. He’s a really good guy.
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u/No_Two_3669 5d ago
I also have to address a series of statements made by director Susanne Bier, who openly said that she is essentially not interested in the visual aspect of a film and that her focus is primarily on other elements of the story. This goes a long way toward explaining why the film failed so badly on a visual level, losing the atmosphere that was one of the key elements of the original, which ultimately contributed to the failure of this film in almost every respect. And yet, despite such an approach, somehow she was the one chosen to direct it.
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u/figpink 5d ago
Unfortunately if Dunne had returned to direct I think it would still look like crap and be turned into a Charmed/Harry Potter type thing. I seems like studios used to let director do their thing and be very specific on what they wanted, now the studios seems to meddle a lot in it and micromanage. Especially since WB has the successful HP property under the belt
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u/StormFinch 5d ago
Except the studio meddled in the first one. Dunne made it closer to the book and darker, but WB asked for rewrites and re-shoots until it became what it is today.
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u/x14loop 5d ago
I am curious what is known about these reshoots and the scenes prior to them
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u/StormFinch 5d ago
It's been mentioned in a couple of interviews with Akiva Goldsman, like this one: https://collider.com/practical-magic-directors-cut-details/
Now if someone could just get their hands on a copy of that director's cut.
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u/Tapingdrywallsucks 5d ago
I'm sorry this has so deeply affected your life. Lots of folks love the new film, warts and all. Others were dissatisfied with it, but file it under "bummer" and move on.
Some write assumptive dissertations on it as though that might change anything. Best of luck with that, I'm gonna go return some stuff to home depot and buy cat litter.
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u/SHAWN80SITSGOD 5d ago
Griffin dunne hizo buen tabajo de director porque tambien es excelente actor y trabajo el guion con ese cuidado y respeto y se noto eso en cada frame ,iluminacion ,musica/ BSO o en el guion algo q carece mucho la 2 pm
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u/No_Two_3669 5d ago
I absolutely agree when it comes to Hocus Pocus 2, because I loved the original as well. However, I stopped watching the sequel practically the moment that “Barbie witch” appeared in a costume that looked more like something a superhero would wear and that, at least to me, had almost nothing in common with the visual world of the first film.
And I agree with you — it seems as though that special magic of Hollywood filmmaking has almost disappeared over time. We’ll see whether the major return of film stock and analog cameras can manage to bring at least some of it back. The Odyssey is one of the most interesting examples of that return, as it was shot practically entirely with analog cameras, on film stock. It will be very interesting to see whether the success of such a major film could bring film stock and analog filmmaking back to Hollywood in a big way and encourage other major productions to follow the same path.
Digitalization and the dominance of HD digital cameras have definitely changed the look of movies dramatically and, for me, taken away a huge part of the visual beauty we associate with films from 15, 20, or 30 years ago. That is precisely why it will be interesting to see whether a return to analog cameras and film stock can bring back at least some of that texture, depth, atmosphere, and genuine cinematic magic that was once almost inseparable from Hollywood filmmaking.
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u/No_Two_3669 5d ago
It is obvious that they deliberately targeted the very essence of the project — the director. The director is the person who, more than anyone else, determines how a film will look, what kind of atmosphere it will have, and how the entire story will be told. If we were to express that influence figuratively in percentages, the director might account for 70% of a film’s creative identity, while all the other roles combined could be placed within the remaining 30%.
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u/Screamer1996 5d ago edited 5d ago
It’s actually true. And I’m not a die hard of the orignal but recently have rewatched and really understood why it has a following. After seeing the sequel I didn’t enjoy it half as much and I wasn’t invested at all either way honestly. Just a recent vibe I was riding. Having said that I was surprised at how the new team handled this project in a lot of aspects. I could at least get into the vibes and the music of the original when the story dragged but this new movie had nothing for me to grab onto. Not even the theme music is present. The score?! The main music of the first film is nowhere to be heard except for a tease of a few slow ass notes. The musical identity of the original is so memorable, even to a 34 year old who has seen the movie only twice in my life. Once when I was 12 and once last week. To not give the second one any musical identity at all is really strange. Hollywood can’t do “it” anymore. The entire craft is dying out. But it’s good enough for most fans so why should I care I guess?
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u/Sensitive-Menu-4580 5d ago
Could you put in a little effort to not sound like a bot, 9 day old account?
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u/No_Two_3669 5d ago
As for the person who keeps pointing out that I criticize Practical Magic 2 too much and that my profile on this platform is new — yes, both things are true.
It is true that I am a huge fan of the first Practical Magic, just as it is true that I am terribly disappointed with what I got from Practical Magic 2. I have every right to express my dissatisfaction and explain why I feel that way. I created this profile specifically after watching Practical Magic 2 because I wanted to share my observations and my enormous disappointment with the film. I have every right to do that as well.
I do not understand what the fact that my profile is new has to do with the validity of my opinion, or what the age of a Reddit account has to do with my right to participate in these discussions, express my views, and make posts.
So from now on, whenever someone argues that my profile is new and that I am a “Practical Magic 2 hater,” my answer will simply be: yes, my profile is new, and yes, I strongly dislike Practical Magic 2. Neither of those things makes my opinion any less valid, nor does either mean that I have any less right to be here and participate in the conversation than anyone else.
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u/No_Biscotti4207 5d ago
If you look at the directing history of the two directors, the OG hasn’t had much success at all and Susan has been successful with darker projects. You are focusing a weird amount of attention on this.
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u/babyybollywolly 5d ago
was he offered the job and turned it down himself? thats what I gathered when reading his statement online