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# Big Screen Views: Practical Magic 2
- URL: https://www.jeffcobeacon.com/big-screen-views-practical-magic-2/
- Published: 2026-09-16T01:52:40.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-16T01:52:40.000Z
- Description: A sister act with an extra dollop of ‘Magic’.
- Author: Diane Urbani de la Paz
- Tags: Arts & Culture, Big Screen Views, Practical Magic 2, Movie review, Diane Urbani de la Paz

Settling down into my seat for “Practical Magic 2,” I was ready to have a good time with Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman, who are back on the screen after a 28-year interval since the first “Magic.” Director Griffin Dunne turned the first “Magic” into a hit at the end of the 20th century. 

The sequel, directed by Susanne Bier, is fierce about sisterhood—and I’m thinking many of us feel some of that toward the actors. Not only do we get to spend time with Sandra, 62, and Nicole, 59, as Sally and Gillian Owens, but we also reunite with Stockard Channing, 82, and Dianne Wiest, 78, as the Owens aunts, Franny and (I love this name) Jet. 

I put their ages out there to underscore that, unlike the dark times of early Hollywood, women of a certain age can and do land juicy roles. 

They’re crafty witches, all of them, while Gillian and the aunts are more in tune with their powers than Sally is. She’s tried to shut herself off from her covenly identity, seeing as how her family curse has led to the death of two husbands. 

What we have here is a case of generational trauma. Sally strives to shield her darling daughters, Kylie (Joey King) and Antonia (Maisie Williams), from the Owens curse. But the Book of the Raven keeps flying in the face of her efforts. Try as she might, Mom can’t erase the witchy imprint on her offspring.

When Kylie takes off for England in search of a solution to a terrible problem—the result of that damned curse—Sally and Gillian follow in hot pursuit, lugging their emotional and physical baggage onto various modes of transport. 

![Lee Pace, left, and Sandra Bullock ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/c6/a2/c6a241c6-69f5-450c-9fd7-6b170730e448/content/images/2026/09/Practical-Magic-2-by-Di-Novi-Pictures_Warner-Bros.--2.jpg)

**Lee Pace and Sandra Bullock seek alignment in “Practical Magic 2.” Image credit: Di Novi Pictures/Warner Bros.*

They meet a tattooed hunk, Ian Wright (the wolfmanlike Lee Pace). Onward we go, on an overlong journey toward the supernatural powers that have, of course, fallen into the wrong hands. 

“Practical Magic 2” is a retelling of an ancient tale about four true things: how women have special powers; how men sometimes really hate that; how we all carry our ancestors’ pain; and when a man’s dignity is violated, watch out, because he’ll stop at nothing to exact revenge. 

The movie aims to please by being part horror flick and part romance, with all glowy light and flowy outfits. Unfortunately, the characters can be annoying and the plot predictable. Some relief comes toward the end, with the aunts aligning at last with each other. And the music uplifts the final scene in a delicious way. 

This season, we all can use some witchcraft. The cast of this sequel does their best to deliver it. 

Let’s just make this the final chapter in “Practical Magic,” OK?