by IT is my favorite Stephen King novel. I was first exposed to the story with the 1990 TV mini-series which was absolutely terrifying in the best way possible. I then read the book and fell totally in love with it. I was thinking of course skeptical when I heard a remake was announced but I tried my best to remain open minded. The film was decent but hardly the horror Renaissance most critics proclaimed it to be. Now the last half of the story, IT Chapter Two is upon us. I saw it just the day after release and now that I’ve had some time think on it I can say it’s decent as well.
Just a quick note; to enjoy this film you have to have seen the first part. This sequel is completely dependent on the audience having full knowledge of the original.
IT Chapter Two begins 27 years after the loser club put an end to Pennywise in the sewers. He was gone, or so they thought. The film opens at a fairground at night. Two men are savagely beaten for being openly gay, and one is thrown off the bridge into the raging river below. He fights to get to shore and is helped by a clown of all things. His boyfriend climbs down just in time to witness everyone’s favorite clown, Pennywise, devour the injured man.
Mike Hanlon, who now works for the local library, arrives at the scene of the crime only to find a message left for him by Pennywise himself. He begins contacting each of his childhood friends to hold them true to the promise they made that if it ever comes back they would too. One by one the original members of the losers club, now all grown up, return to Derry Maine so that they all can do battle with the otherworldly clown together once more.
While the story is fun to follow there are some major issues with the way in which it’s told. First of all, this film is supposed to be a sequel but so much of it consists of flashbacks it barely qualifies as one. You can’t go ten minutes without seeing a flashback to when the protagonists were kids. That’s fine and dandy, especially because it’s all new footage and story, but it does get old pretty fast. Part one did a decent job of establishing each character so this feels pointless. I enjoyed seeing the adults interact with Pennywise so I found these moments to drag.
Second of all is the pacing. This is a three hour movie. The first hour and a half flies by, but the second half stalls to the pace of a snail. It’s too formulaic; character has flashback, jump scare from pennywise, rinse lather and repeat. The story wastes too much time exploring each character. I honestly stopped caring and just wanted to see them fight the clown. Even that section of the film is bogged down by flashbacks and too much dialogue. They could have shortened the runtime by half and IT Part 2 would have been a much stronger film.
One thing I really liked about the original mini-series was how well it nailed the feel of a coming of age story. You felt the nostalgia from the gang being re-United. That feeling is completely gone from this one. There just isn’t a lot of chemistry between the characters. I will say that most of the adult actors do look like the children they’re supposed to represent which is a nice plus, but that’s about it.
With those nuances out of the way let’s get to what works. Pennywise feels like much less of a bumbling idiot in IT Chapter Two, and is portrayed as a much more effective antagonist. One sequence in particular, involving a little girl being lured under the bleachers at a baseball game is one of the single best moments in any horror movie ever. I don’t often jump but the end of that sequence had me out of my seat. Mostly though he taunts the adults, but does so in some pretty hilarious and horrifying ways.
The dialogue has also been improved since the last film. Previously the kids just randomly shouted out f bombs even when it didn’t make sense, and it felt really forced. Like whomever wrote the script thought it was funny but almost all of the jokes fell flat. Here the protagonists talk more like real people and their banter is actually entertaining.
The cast is pretty good as well. I especially like Bill Hader as the adult version of Ritchie Toszier. He made me laugh out loud more than once. The rest give solid performances as well. Skasgard as Pennywise is pretty much on par with how he was in the last film which is both good and bad.
IT Chapter Two follows the book more closely than I expected. There are several nods that I really appreciated, and fans are sure to get giddy seeing many of their favorite moments played out. The scene in the Chinese restaurant in particular is better than I could have hoped for. The final showdown against Pennywise is a little disappointing because it steers away from the novel. That in and of itself isn’t terrible but the path they take is much worse. It doesn’t feel like we get the proper closure. The film wastes too much time with flashbacks and pointless conjecture that it’s disappointing when Pennywise’s demise is skimmed over.
I’ve been very critical of this film up to this point. It’s only because IT holds a special place in my heart and so the disappointments struck harder than they normally would. Truth be told it’s a decent horror film and one that I would watch again. I would almost say it’s better than the first part; it absolutely has more suspense and better scares. The biggest issues are that it’s so formulaic and also the story feels padded. Three quarters of the way through I was having a hard time sitting still because I was bored. I still recommend it. IT Chapter Two isn’t half bad!
It Chapter Two
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Pros
- Some very effective scares
- Great casting
- Improved dialogue
Cons
- Serious pacing issues
- Too many flashbacks
- Requires knowledge of the original
