The Craft: Legacy is the latest from Blumhouse and a curious film that had had to face an uphill battle since it was announced last year. This film was never going to get a fair shake from the fans of the 1996 cult classic original, as was evident by the backlash the trailer received despite it being pretty good. Having seen the film, I can say that The Craft: Legacy is a solid film.
What hurts the film is the title. Had this film had any other title, the reception for it would have been a lot more positive than the one it’s currently getting from audience members. In an ironic twist of events, the film arrives one week after the re-imagining of The Witches, another witch film that is getting unjustified hate due to its 90’s counterpart.
I’ll be honest, while I enjoy the 1996 original, I’ve never been a die-hard fan of it, so I never had an issue with this sequel because it’s very much a “legacy sequel” and not a remake. It takes place about 20 years after the original, and it manages to pay homage to what came before with a few things that loyal fans will appreciate while still working to feel like its own thing.
For those who have never seen the original, the film pretty much follows the same basic plot. A new girl at a high school is just trying to fit in. And in doing so, she becomes the latest member in a coven of witches that use their powers for personal gain. That’s about where the similarities end as this film takes the story in a whole different direction and tells an entirely different story.
While the original has a very 90s feel and a darker aesthetic, this felt more of this current period. The film’s material feels right at home with what you would find in the CW nowadays, like Riverdale. This film will do great with that viewer demographic.
There’s a lot I liked about this film. One of my favorite aspects of the film was what it had to say about sexuality and toxic masculinity. One of the leads is played by trans actress Zoey Luna, who plays a trans character in the film, and while it doesn’t emphasize it too much, there are subtle nods to it that I appreciated. A particular scene being when one of the girls says that the ability for women to give birth shows they have some magic in them in which her character, the snappy Lourdes, corrects her and says that not all women have that power adding “trans girls have their magic too.” Subtle touches like that let the viewers know that she is trans without drawing a lot of attention. It’s a friendly and surprisingly positive representation of a trans individual in a Hollywood film. It never feels like this character was added to gain brownie points with the community, and I loved that.
Without getting into spoilers, the film tackles toxic masculinity in a way few Hollywood films have. There’s a particular scene that is robust and one of the film’s highlights. Writer/Director Zoe Lister-Jones did an excellent job tackling these two themes that are very much of this period that wouldn’t have worked when the original came out. The way she tackled these themes is reminiscent of how the first film tackled racism and the personal struggles and trauma of being a teenager.
Cailee Spaeny, who I’ve seen in a few things before, does an excellent job as the lead. She has a significant screen presence. She is the only one of the girls developed as the other three wishes barely get any lines compared to her. She got me to care about her and be invested in her journey, as she discovers her powers the same way Robin Tunney did in the original. She has a bright future, and I can’t wait to see what she does as her career blossoms. The only other actress that impressed me from the coven of witches was Gideon Adler. I’ve been a fan of hers since the first time I saw her in Blockers, and she offered fantastic comedic relief while they were few and far between. Her mother is the hilarious Pamela Adler, who’s done great work in Californication and Better Things, and she is very much her mother’s daughter. Her energy was so great, and it’s continuously injected the film with some humor with her charismatic presence. I wish we had gotten more of it.
Lovie Simone felt very wasted and like she was only included to be the token black girl of the group. It’s like Blumhouse said, oh, the original had one black girl in the coven. Ours has to have one as well. While I loved and appreciated the presence of Zoey Luna and the inclusion of her being trans, aside from a few scenes dealing with her identity, there wasn’t much to her character as I would have liked.
A secondary character I would have loved to have seen more of is Nicholas Galitzine. At first, he comes off as a big-time jerk and bully, but he is more than meets the eye. He has a compelling scene and eye-opening in a rare move of character development for this film. Just based on that scene alone, I’m very excited to see him play Prince Robert in the upcoming Camilla Cabello starring Cinderella.
Now on to the negatives because there are plenty. The film has a vital first two acts, which was just as good as the original’s best things. However, they dropped the ball big time with a terrible ending that dropped the film’s quality.
The Craft: Legacy is writer/director Zoe Lister-Jones’s second film after her pretty solid debut film Band-Aid, and it shows this is only her second film behind the camera and as a writer. Her camera work isn’t anything special, and her script is weak. This film suffers from a lot of plot holes, with the story feeling rushed. There are a few things that connect this film to the original, but they aren’t explained. It made me rewind a few times to see if I had missed something. There is no character development in this film, and it makes it hard to honestly care about any of the characters because most come off as empty vessels with nothing to offer us to have sympathy and connect with them. The complete opposite of the original had the four leads being significantly fleshed-out characters dealing with racism, burn scars, abusive stepfather, and the loss of a parent.
Michelle Monaghan is a very talented actress, and she’s impressed me a lot over the years, but she is sidelined here. Her character could have been used better, and she’s meant to be an actual figure for connecting this film to the original, but we never get that. It’s as if some of her material was left on the cutting room floor. A huge part of why the 3rd act failed for me was what they did with David Duchovny’s character. Man, did he have some eye-rolling scenes? I wasn’t a fan of his character or his actions what so ever. I’m surprised he took on the role. Either he owed somebody a favor, or the money was good. He is above these kinds of parts, and as a fan of his, I’m disappointed he took it.
In the end, is this as good as the 1996 original? No, but it’s far from the disaster many are making it seem to be. It’s a great addition to what is now a franchise. No spoilers here, but if you have reservations about this film, definitely check it out for its excellent sequel baiting ending that put a smile on my face and will put one on every die-hard fan. I’m very excited for what comes next, and I hope this gets a sequel because if they do, it could be the sequel most die-hards have wanted.
