Broken spell

“You’ve heard tell of the Owens sisters,” says a handy voiceover at the start of this unsatisfying sequel.

Why, yes, they were in a movie 28 years ago, which did so-so box office at the time but went on to develop a large and loyal cult following.

That first Practical Magic go-round, adapted from the book by Alice Hoffman, was full of crowd-pleasing “You go, girl” empowerment and witchy shenanigans, making for a sweet, supernatural-lite kind of vibe.

It wasn’t a great movie, but it had its own hokey, Halloweeny charm. It was a pumpkin spice latte before pumpkin spice lattes were even a thing.

Understanding viewers’ deep devotion to the 1998 original, PM2 is big on fan service. (Female bonding! Pop-song montages! Slumber parties! Midnight margaritas!) It’s a pleasure to see Stockard Channing and Dianne Wiest doing their stuff, and Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock are bona fide movie stars who bring a lived-in, back-and-forth authenticity to their characters’ sisterly connection.

But the charm feels forced, and the story’s tonal dissonance — already embedded in the first film — has become outright uncomfortable.

The magic is gone.

Much of the original cast is back. There is, alas, no Aidan Quinn in a denim shirt — the fate of his character being summarily dealt with in the first three minutes. But the Owen women’s magical matriarchy is still going strong. Aunts Jet (Wiest) and Franny (Channing) are still eccentric. Sally (Bullock) is still the serious, stay-at-home sister, and Gillian (Kidman) is still the restless party girl.

Sally’s daughters, Antonia (Maisie Williams) and Kylie (Joey King), have grown up, more or less replicating the dynamic of their mother and aunt. Antonia is the organized, clipboard-wielding one, while Kylie is irresponsible and adventurous.

Kylie has also recently fallen for Gideon (Xolo Mariduena), who is a standard-issue 20-something dreamboat — “emotionally available and a DJ,” as Antonia points out.

It looks as if the next generation of Owens sisters will have to come to terms with their legacy — the curse called up by a powerful witchy ancestress that any man they love will perish.

“Everyone we love dies,” as Sally says.

“A really horrible death,” Gilly adds. “It’s not great for the Tinder bio.”

Since Sally and Gilly know this, it feels a mite irresponsible that they haven’t mentioned it to Kylie and Antonia, who are at that falling-in-love stage. But Sally has chosen to put the girls under a forgetfulness spell and raise them without any knowledge of witchcraft or the curse running through their maternal bloodline.

This approach falls apart completely when the deathwatch beetle that caused such havoc in the first film starts clicking around again. Now three generations of Owens women will have to come together to find a way forward, which will involve a trip to England, an encounter with Dr. Ian Wright (Lee Pace), a mystery man who once studied the “dark path” of witchcraft, and the ultimate rediscovery of the franchise mantra that “no magic is stronger than sisterhood.”

Danish-born director Susanne Bier, who made her name with slow, subtle dramatic films (Brothers, After the Wedding), struggles with the broad, clunky screenplay from Georgia Pritchett and original PM scripter Akiva Goldsman. Poorly paced, oddly structured, full of improbabilities and with a void where the villain needs to be, the storyline goes on too long.

The tonal shifts also become increasingly awkward, with scenes that attempt to combine comic bickering with sentimental sap and urgent life-and-death threats (augmented by way more CGI than the original).

The star power of Kidman and Bullock still casts a spell, but even they can’t hold Practical Magic 2 together.

art@winnipegfreepress.com