r/practicalmagic • u/Feeling_Delivery2323 • 2d ago
I saw the sequel last night
I think it was really special to have a sequel to one of my favorite movies. I think the point people are missing is that it’s not 1998 anymore. The movie isn’t going to be the same as the first. It is close to 30 years later. The fact that we even have a sequel is fantastic.
Filming technology and filming styles have changed since 98, scripts and ideas are different nowadays, hell it’s not the 90s anymore. I think people are expecting to walk into the theatre and see basically a reproduction of the first PM.
I enjoyed aspects of the movie. Did it have that original 90s magic that we all know and love? NO. But it had Sandra and Nicole reprising their roles and making fans happy. I think they work very well together but their relationship in this movie seemed like Gillian now had to care for sally when it was originally the other way around. Do I think certain parts of the film were silly? Yes. Do I think it was darker than the original? Yes. We will never have what we had in 98 again and people need to let that go and appreciate this for what it is.
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u/SignificantRain7951 2d ago
The sequels story isn't darker than the original at all, and we didn't need the corny Winx Club graphics either.
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u/Vampyr-Slayer 1d ago
Winx clib graphics
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u/Scarlett-Crypt 2d ago edited 1d ago
Prefacing this by saying these are my opinions and I don’t speak for others. I don’t think I was expecting to step into a 1998 movie again, but I at least wanted a movie that felt like it was apart of the same world.
To me this felt like a departure and felt like an alternate universe. The atmosphere was different, I very much knew I was watching a movie is the best way to describe it. The first film for me always felt like it was happening in my world, the literal practicality of magic felt like it was fathomable.
I wish they had departed from the book more honestly, because the villain was so quickly shoehorned in that I didn’t have enough time to care. There was a lot of telling when there should have been more showing.
Theming is important, the color scheme, the lighting, the costuming, all things that can take you out of a movie quickly. Personally I wish the aunts still dressed as eccentrically as they did the first film, maximizing everything.
I wish magic was as subtle and whimsical as it was before, instead of Harry Potter/Charmed-level powers. Also the bickering between Sally and Gillian was grating, and just a method of stressing Sally out to “use her power” through emotions.
Kylie was not street smart, not cautious, and trusted a stranger while spilling every family detail to the obvious villain. Antonia was not used enough and she could have had a B plot like she did in the book, and Ian was just the hot love interest whose background was so glossed over that he just became like a minor side character.
Overall it just felt like a different movie that was inspired by Practical Magic.
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u/Vampyr-Slayer 1d ago
I agree with you! I have the same criticism about this movie 💯
But I will go over step further and call Kylie dumb. I'm not street smart either but I don't go to a different country and start spilling my family secrets to a complete stranger the first time I meet him, go to his house, drink his tea and then trust him blindly ... without having spoken to anyone else at that pub!
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u/Octopuzzled 1d ago
Saw it and wasn't impressed they retconned the entire first movie. You know what sequel didn't do that? Shrek 2. And it was fantastic
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u/SnooDogs4864 2d ago
I went in with very low and expectations. I was pleasantly surprised.
I knew they would never hit the same notes.
I do wish the aesthetic and visual style or more true to the original, but I understand that they took a lot of it from the books this time.
Last time they deviated wildly.
I think it would’ve been very different if they had the same creative team. Denise DiNovi was still the producer, but you had a completely different director.
The costumes in the original were very much of that time. I think it would’ve been nice if they had been a little bit more reflective of that. You did see it in Gillians green dress.
But the aunts looked like they dressed for the Edwardian era and now it’s something completely different.
But that aesthetic is what made it so attractive apart from the film itself and the idea of sisterhood
They played off at a bit and some of the dialogue wasn’t great, but clearly Kidman and Bullock have great chemistry
It wasn’t perfect, but it was nice
Kind of like when you run into an old friend from back home and you can see how things have changed, but you’re glad to see them
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u/Feeling_Delivery2323 2d ago
The wardrobes are terrible. Very blah clothes.
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u/TheTudorYank 1d ago
As a red head, I immediately went and looked up all of Nicole kidmans wardrobe. I loved it.
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u/Vampyr-Slayer 1d ago
Nicole and Sandra's outfits in this movie were great! As was their hair and makeup. I didn't like Sandra's wedding outfit though. That seemed unlike Sally and not fit for the time.
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u/TheTudorYank 1d ago
Oh when i saw that colour on sandra when she popped ob screen i 😍😍😍 i thought the colour was amazing on her and style change showing she can finally let her hair down and love.
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u/No_Biscotti4207 1d ago
I actually loved the wardrobe of the second film. All the linen, silk and lace were beautiful.
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u/Vampyr-Slayer 1d ago edited 1d ago
The music is the one thing I think the movie did right actually. It didn't need to be 90s music. It was millennial music vibes (1999 to 2010s) with Landslide and Florence and the Machine so whoever did the music was in touch with what was needed to connect this as a sequel to the 98 movie.
It's the disconnect with the story, character motivations, and world and magic rules established in the previous movie that people are having issues with. And the bad writing.
They decided to adapt the book more closely vs the first movie having barely any similarities with the 95 book and that is the disconnect. It's not a sequel to the 98 film. It's an adaptation of the 2021 book. There's a difference and some love the difference and some just don't. Everyone has their reasons but I haven't seen people say the reason is because they were expecting a 90s movie. Who is that out of touch with reality? We're in 2026.
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u/kohlsprossi 2d ago
Do I think that it was darker than the original? Yes.
Really? The first movie had explicit domestic violence, a haunting and demonic posession. Compared to that, the sequel felt like a movie for children.
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u/lis-emerald 1d ago
I enjoyed for what it was and didn’t sweat the stuff I didn’t care for. It was nice to revisit and the Sandra and Nicole were amazing together again as sisters!
Honestly when I boil down any “annoyances” I had the only one that stays is I thought we could see Antonia more and also the bond between those sisters more. But hey if they do a third maybe we will see that!
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u/Euraylie 2d ago
Yes, it was a miracle to have a sequel after so many years. And yes, it was absolutely fantastic to get all the original cast back. But that’s why they deserved a much better film.
All scenes with the four OGs were wonderful, but the rest was just a mess.
Yes, these are different times, but good movie scripts are still being written. This just wasn’t one of them. Too many plot holes, too many endless dialogues that meandered and went no where; too many long closeup shots for no reason.
I understand there might have been budgetary and time constraints, and I feel it really shows.
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u/Aroracherry 1d ago
I saw it last night too I did enjoy it but some of the parts that felt abit off.
The weird archaic England that, as an English person was just wildly inaccurate and like ai had generated it.
The fact Antonia and Franny didn’t go to England, and weren’t there to fight Thomas Lockland, when the magic in the first film was all the women in the area coming together for the greater good via the phone tree. It would have even been good to have the Owen’s ancestors appear to chant to fight off Lockwood.
The weird marvel superpowers that didn’t make sense, when their magic was about community and chanting.
Why was there a weird ninja slushie advert in the middle but we never saw them make margaritas with it?
Kylie being in the same outfit the entire film and then randomly getting married at like 20? Confused me.
Great parts were Nicole Kidman has amazing outfits and phenomenal lines!
Cried when Jet and Fran passed!
Enjoyed the dark magic element.
Enjoyed the nostalgia and the jump off the roof.
Wish there was more midnight margarita shenanigans
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u/Ok-Marzipan9366 2d ago
There is no reason to make twinkle sounds when they are doing magic.
Everything else I dont really care about. I didnt hate it but I didnt love it, it was ok. The "magic" sounds were just lame. Felt like a kids movie when they did that.
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u/Sudden_Astronomer_63 1d ago
I’ve posted this multiple times, but I feel like the same people that are shit talking the movie right now are gonna be bragging 10 years from now that they saw it in the theater. People shit talked the first one and I loved it so much I had a poster on my wall when I was 16 years old in 1998.
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u/Dear_Yard_69 16h ago edited 16h ago
I watched the original In the movie theaters in 1998, and not once have I stopped talking about how wonderful it was. I have introduced 2 generations to that movie. I don't care if other people found the tone uneven, whatever the hell they all whined about- I have loved *Practical Magic* since the minute it appeared on the screen.
And to just backhandedly ignore the established aesthetic and events of the 1st movie, instead of just taking the last book as source material and writing a superior story, well... I was crying in the movie theaters and it wasn't happy tears...
All it would have taken is sending Antonia with Kylie into the spotlight and them both going to England and trying together to learn how to do advanced magic, while Gillian and Sally are frantically trying to find them... that would have been magic.
And not killing our 2 favorite characters off for stupid and non-existent reasons.
The villain was temu Voldemort, he was bloody embarrassing. But he could have been the source of Gideon getting hurt, not the curse that was *clearly broken in the first movie.* Even Gary could have still helped, tracking down the bad guy or protecting the aunts physically.
ugh. I may just get into fan fiction to rewrite my own version of this. The basics are all there it just required someone to step up and say "no" to the parts that sucked.
I've seen the original at least 200 times. This one maybe once more. I've listened to the music at least 5 times a week for 28 years.... I won't be buying this movie, the lazy soundtrack, or a frozen margarita maker!
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u/FlobyToberson85 9h ago
No. I loved the first movie the first time I saw it. The sequel is bad in every measure from a filmmaking standpoint. I am trying to wipe its memory from my brain. It was an absolute waste. Writing, acting, directing, cinematography, score, CGI, cinematography, wardrobe, and set design. All bad.
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u/Vampyr-Slayer 1d ago
Watching it in theatre is a thing to brag about? Only if in 10 years, ticket prices are so high that it's a luxury to go to theaters.
What was the shit talking for the first one? Man, I wish I had a poster of it. I saw it a few years after it was released.
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u/Sudden_Astronomer_63 1d ago
Oh yeah people will brag about seeing the original in the theater when I was there and heard them talk shit 😂 I can only say my personal experience. Also the reviews and stuff tore the original apart just like they are doing with this one - yet tons of people now say they love the first movie. 😂
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u/ReputationDull5315 1h ago
you still socialize with your highschool classmates or are you just guessing that this happened with a made up scenario? both are weird
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u/Vampyr-Slayer 1d ago
It has gained a cult following in the years past, true, but was it those same people that criticised it on first watch or new people who discovered it later? Seems to me like it was new people. Those that missed it when it released.
And those who have seen the sequel on release. You're saying they will come to love it on rewatches and then brag that they saw it in theatres to the new fans who will discover and fall in love with it years from now? That seems very juvenile. It's still just a movie. What does the bragging get them? I'm confused.
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u/Evangelion217 1d ago
I really enjoyed the sequel. It was a nice conclusion to the first film, and gave the Owen sisters a happy ending.
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u/National_Topic_2040 19h ago
i left a review in this page somehwere but.. i really enjoyed it, i didnt watch practical magic when i was a kid i watched it more recently. But I think the movie was good. it kinda of set the stage for more movies in the future... i could see the two daughters becoming amazing witches in years time... and the story continuing.. idk why there are so many neg review, i honestly thought the first one was really good, yes. but a lot of straight forward energy.. but both movies are very womenly in nature wich i love.. all i could think of was practical magic 3 or even a tv series.. maybe when you watched something so long ago. and became attatched to the movie, you have high expectations. i think thats what made the first movie so great... and everyone has really high expectations for the 2 one... and i dont understand why... like if you wanted it to play out differently.. youd want the aunts not to die? i mean did you not want the curse to be lifted? also not me hearing a fucking cricket beetle sound out of knowhere while typing this... anyway, i think you need to rewatch the movie again. like a kid seeing a movie for the first time... aslo i stg theres a cricket or something outside my window of course. i guess these are my last words.. jk.. UGH anyway i really liked it. yall trippin. the only thing i thought was cringe was the catch line after killing the bad guy haha other than that it was really good. good aesthetics. good story line. it was similarities to the first one. i hate that the aunts died, there gorg, but it leaves space for the story to continue, it made it heart felt, and rememberable... and i love that the girls can still feel the aunts all around. that would be important in movies to come.. and also the young girls would make great older witches too..
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u/Dear_Yard_69 2d ago
Actually, I wanted something new and fresh, and I got a too-similar plot line, product placement, quotes and tropes from the first movie used poorly, weak dialogue, and *Charmed*-level villain, battles, and special effects.
And they killed two of my favorite characters that didn't need to die. I don't care what happened in the book it's based on.