Welcome back to White Rose of Avalon, my Darlings.   For today’s post, I am sharing my thoughts on the brand-new film Practical Magic 2!   Now, I want to begin by stating that this is not one of my spoiler-filled reviews that contains a plot breakdown, as I did not want to spoil the plot.   So, I will try to keep this to basic thoughts and avoid spoilers.   However, at the end of the post, there may be very mild spoilers for fans who have read the books.

I have to admit that, while this was my most anticipated film of the year, as I have been a fan of the original since I was very young, I was also hesitant.   There were a lot of things that could go wrong with creating a follow-up to my favorite comfort film, and legacy sequels are often not great.   That being said, I moderated my expectations before seeing it and ended up enjoying the film far more than I thought I would!   In my opinion, it is better than most legacy sequels.   

Beyond that, it manages to both be an adaptation of the sequel book, The Book of Magic, and the original film, which deviated a lot from the first book.   I was truly impressed at how they blended the book lore with the film lore.   It truly felt like watching a well-thought-out love letter to the fans!   While yes, there is fan service, it is not overdone, in my estimation.   I really adored getting to step back into the world of the Owens women decades later.   It felt a bit like coming home again.

Now, was it perfect?   No.   Was it as good as the original?   Never could be.   Did I wish they would have cast Evan Rachel Wood, after finding out she wanted to be involved?   Of course.   But did Joey King do a great job in her place?   Yea.   Did I miss book characters like Vincent and Ben?   Yes!   However, I realize only so much could be included due to time constraints.   That is why I was okay with simplifying Gillian and Antonia’s storylines, even though I wish some of the book content could have been kept.   I also enjoyed the slight change they made to the very end of the film, as it was a nice twist that kept book fans a little surprised.   Because, honestly, they kept the basic beats of the plot relatively in place, just sped up for pacing in a film.   And, yes, I cried twice, even though I knew that those events would happen based on the book.

Overall, I would say if you are a major fan of Practical Magic with an open mind, I think you will enjoy yourself.   If you are a book purist, or harp on about how the cinematography and costuming are different, maybe not so much.   All I can say is that I had a blast with my best friend and husband when I saw the film on opening weekend.   It will never eclipse the original, and I will not watch it as much as the first one, but I will definitely rewatch it.   That is all for this review.   I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts on the film.   Have you seen it yet?   Do you wanna see it now?   Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

Note on Image: The image at the top of the post is the film poster.   I found the poster on https://www.imdb.com/title/tt32588798/.   

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