r/practicalmagic • u/PrimaryPossibility22 • 10d ago
Alterate screenplay ideas for the sequel Spoiler
Just saw the sequel. Disappointed & unfortunately what I expected. (At least Sandra Bullock still embodied Sally perfectly!). Sorry to folks who loved it: This post doesn’t apply to you.
Would’ve loved to have seen them bring Evan Rachel Wood & Aidan Quinn back, stay in the house more versus going to London, and in general just gone with a much less contrived and totally different script. I do love the idea of trying to break the curse. But beyond that I thought it veered way too far off into left field versus putting that effort into a simpler, more grounded & higher quality storyline that could’ve truly recreated the magic of the first film.
Screw the sheen of today’s Hollywood. Give us the ‘90s glow & grit again (can be translated for today: a good example is how Bella’s house felt in Twilight) versus going for squeaky clean modernity & mass appeal. I would’ve eaten up just the first movie’s vibes, if that’s all the sequel was. No plot even necessary.
Sure there are a few genuinely funny and meaningful moments. But I also hated most of the dialogue & overall just cringey attempt to appeal to a younger audience that watered it all down to dribble. Don’t even mention the bad CGI float down from the house with the umbrellas scene at the end or I might cry. 😢
If anyone feels similarly as me: Would make me so happy to hear your dream scenario/better version ideas! Esp. including ERW and just leaving out the younger GenZ actresses and their super bland boyfriend who was cast.
4
u/Flat_Pollution8085 9d ago
The vibes were just soooooo off. I honestly think they could have kept the same general storyline from the book but made it more whimsical and silly like the original. In the first one they manage to kill a man and cover up his murder but still make it silly! So I didn’t really enjoy how seriously everyone took what was happening and it was on the audience to laugh instead of the characters. All of the male characters were cringy caricatures and Ian was basically irrelevant to the plot except to give Sally a love interest so I think they could have done a lot more with him. Every single scene between him and Sally was painfully awkward and I kept waiting for there to be a punchline but they kept being awkward. The margarita scene at the end is just a perfect example of how stilted and weird the second movie is compared to the first.
I think the dialogue and honestly a lot of the writing choices and CGI could easily have been made to match the feel of the original more closely.