7.0 out of 10
Warning – Spoilers Throughout
I have a confession to make. I only watched IT Chapter One just a few months ago so I recently became a fan of the movie. I really liked Chapter One for its characters, it’s different approach to telling Stephen King’s Novel, it’s score by Benjamin Wallfisch, and for its brilliant horror visuals in both the visual effects and the camera shots. After seeing it’s ending, I was anticipating Chapter Two and after finally seeing it, I will say that I was somewhat satisfied with how the story ends and that I had a good time with it, though there are some problems that Chapter Two has that does make Chapter One more superior.
Once again directed by Andy Muschietti, It Chapter Two takes place 27 years after the events of Chapter One. The town of Derry, Maine is once again terrorized by the evil shapeshifting being known as IT, though this time, it seeks revenge on the Losers Club after they drove it back to starve in early hibernation. After Mike Hanlon discovers that IT has returned, he calls all members of the Losers Club and reminds them of their blood oath to come back to Derry if IT should ever return. One by one, almost all of the Losers Club Members return to Derry and learn from Mike that there’s a possible way to kill IT once and for all, but they all need to go and reclaim pieces of their forgotten past in order for the plan to work. The task is not easy, however, because IT also has a plan to keep the Losers Club apart so it can kill them off one by one, and it involves using an Adult Henry Bowers, a former school bully that was driven insane by his involvement in Chapter One and serves IT so he can kill his former classmates. It all becomes a race against time to kill IT once and for all before it kills more innocent people than ever before, and this time, the stakes are more personal.
Right off the bat, I’ll list some very positive things about Chapter Two. I loved the casting of the Adult Losers Club, whoever was in charge of casting deserves a huge commendation because I was totally convinced from start to finish that I was watching the exact same characters that I originally saw in Chapter One, with the only difference of them being 27 years older. Bill Hader is the MVP of the group as Adult Richie, just like Finn Wolfhard was as Young Richie. Richie has probably the best jokes in the film and I also liked that they gave him a story arc in Chapter Two, unlike Chapter One. James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain were also pretty good as Adult Bill and Adult Beverly, though I will say that they don’t have as much development as they did before in Chapter One. I will say that IT Chapter Two should be seen more like a companion-piece to Chapter One as it helped me enjoy these two films, the best way I can make an example of what I mean is to think of IT Chapter Two as Back to the Future Part II or even Gremlins 2: The New Batch.
Bill Skarsgård was great as the evil Pennywise once again. His energy put into that role is just as good as Chapter One, and he’s even crazier in Chapter Two, mainly in the Mirror Room scene and the City Park scene. Chapter Two is easily the funniest of the two adaptations, most of the comedy comes from Bill Hader and James Ransone as Adult Richie and Eddie, but Pennywise also has some hilarious moments, mainly with some of his lines and body language.
So, I’ve said my positives, what exactly are my problems with Chapter Two? Well, first of all, it’s drawn out too much to really earn it’s 2 hour and 45 minute runtime, there’s a huge chunk of the film dedicated to having the Adult Losers split up and obtain a treasured piece of their childhood in order to kill IT. While it makes for some decent creepy moments, it seriously should’ve been cut down in chunks as it made me impatient and eager for the Losers to confront IT for the last time.
Adult Henry Bowers is a completely pointless character in Chapter Two that only serves to give the character more to do in the adaptation and he’s not that involved in the story except for a few scenes involving Adult Eddie and Richie. Though I did know that Adult Henry was involved in both the mini series and the book, I still think he should’ve just been killed off when he fell down the well in Chapter One because all he was at that point just a tool for IT to use as a way to try and physically kill the Loser’s Club. Though I was somewhat satisfied by the finale of the film, I was also laughing when the true form of IT is revealed, and it’s as a giant CGI spider with Pennywise attached to it. The mini-series had a bad stop-motion spider, but this version of the spider was when IT Chapter Two officially jumped the shark, meaning it got too ridiculous to watch at that moment. I would also add that I didn’t really like how Adult Stan Uris was used to motivate the group, his character commits suicide at the beginning of the film and he writes them all letters telling them to kill IT without him as he just would’ve held them back due to his fear of Pennywise. Stan Uris just did not do much for me as a character in Chapter One as he was more of a character that was mostly in the background even though he was a main character. The last thing I would say is that the film could’ve been a little bit scarier as Chapter One had some legitimate scary scenes with the beginning and a few scenes throughout that film, Chapter Two seems more like a Comedy-Horror film than just straight up Horror.
So, I’ve said some good and bad things about Chapter Two, what are my final thoughts? IT Chapter Two, again, is a good companion piece to Chapter One and when seen that way, it makes the overall adaptation of Stephen King’s classic a pretty good adaptation that will somewhat be remembered. I think it was a great choice to split up the child and adult parts of the book as the novel is over 1200 pages and contains both the child side and adult side of the story. I think it’s entertaining for what it is, and I will definitely watch it again in the future. Is it a great movie? Not really. Is it a bad movie? By no means, not really. Chapter Two is a fun popcorn movie that succeeds in trying different things in terms of horror visuals, not all stick the landing, but it was a pretty good try. Chapter One had better pacing, better scares, and a better tone, but Chapter Two does its best to keep up and conclude on an almost satisfying note, for better or worse. I’ve heard the reception from the audience is divisive because of a few scenes, but you know what, everyone will have a different opinion on this film, my opinion? If you see IT Chapter One and like it, then watch Chapter Two, you’ll probably like it and you’ll all float down here.
I enjoyed it! I especially loved seeing Darcy in her true form:)