It: Chapter Two

I was originally hesitant to see director Andy Muschietti's rendition of Stephen King's beloved book "It" back in 2017, but after hearing splendid reviews from fans and critics; I took a chance and came out pleasantly surprised. Since then, I agree with why that is now considered by many to be a modern Horror classic.

Now our favorite Losers club are back to face Pennywise again in "It: Chapter Two". Adding up all of that and that this is my second most anticipated mainstream film of the year, does it live up to the hype? Well, somewhat. It's an imperfect but solid sequel.

In spite of a three hour runtime it kept my attention for the entire ride. Like "Chapter One"; it's wonderfully shot (with effective use of sepia tone colors) and the editing and scene transitions are eye popping. Many of the dialogue and scares are cleverly written (a scene at a restaurant is a highlight).

In spite of an often unsettling plot, there is plenty of levity to be found here. It unfortunately suffers from inappropriate timing with many of the jokes, causing the film to play like a dark comedy. Half of the frightening and dramatic moments are finished by gags and one-liners. There is one scary sequence that really works until it's ruined by a joke straight out of a Deadpool film.

The pacing is troubling at times; since some of the opening introductions are rushed, while certain flashbacks to the younger versions of the Losers Club could've been shorter. This makes the narrative not feel as fresh or as fulfilled compared to the first film.

It's most accomplished at being an emotionally fulfilling journey for the Losers club. This is sharpened by the adult actors being dead ringers for the kids from the original; including the main highlight Bill Hader- an instant classic as Richie, as he combines the best of his talent from "Saturday Night Live" with intense urgency to best serve the idea of "What would Richie from It be like if he grew up?"

If you're looking for a good cinematic start for this Halloween season, and something to bring you back all the feels from Chapter One from September 2017; Chapter Two is a somewhat messy but nicely done job.



Grade- B

To the guys at the top, that's an easy answer. Yes.

To the general public. Probably.

To the Stephen King fan. No.

Obviously covering an over 1000 page adaption is going to run into problems having just 6 hours to do so. But even at that, there was plenty of wasted time (especially in Episode 2) that could have been cut for more of the novels material. Just little things like explaining why it's an eye that comes out off Richies fortune cookie or a dead baby bird out Mikes. There's just so much that could have been changed and made no difference to the time. I mean, how much more would it have taken to show Beverley seeing that the doorbell said "Marsh" at first, then it change to "Kersh". The end "fight scene" was ALWAYS going to be a nightmare to put in front of an audience as it's easier in the book when you can let your imagination do the work and I think that's why there's the running joke all out through the movie about Bill's books having bad endings. The twist at the end was kinda cool and I actually hoped that they'd do it this way rather than the book as it's heartbreaking to see them forgetting who each other is all over again.

All in all it is a fine movie but there's no scares whatsoever and it just seems like some different shape of the actual "IT" is tearing towards the camera shaking their heads in a weird way (think the alley scene in "Jacob's Ladder").

Worth it for a one, maybe two time watch and overall for the series together:

Chapter One - 8 Chapter Two - 6

Overall - 7

I couldn't wait for it to end.

CGI was horrible at times.

Wait for it to come out on video. At least you can pause it and take a break.

Everything special from chapter one an both of the originals completely removed for cheap not scary cgi effects, lost it's way for the all mighty Hollywood blockbuster dollar

I actually enjoyed the first one, even though it was a mainstream film pg13 style. But the second part was like another movie and another style. It didnt even try to be scary, just stupid, redicolous and funny like an hot shots movie...and than it was super long on top. What a huge fail with a awesome cast.