It Chapter Two

It Chapter Two needs to be seen if you loved the first It movie. I remember liking the original It movie when I first saw it. The original felt like a nice mix of Goonies and a horror movie. The execution of the movie was better than what J.J. Abrams did with Super 8.

When I was thinking of watching this movie I was really curious how they were going to have the original kids in the first movie in this sequel. We already notice how the Stranger Things kids are growing up really fast so it's really tough for them to keep the continuity of the actors reprising their roles. It's a shame too because the original child actors from the first movie did a great job.

This movie takes place 27 years after the first movie. All of the characters have well into their late 30's and a lot has changed. Surprisingly the older versions of the loser crew are all pretty successful. They've all separated to live their lives in different cities. It's quite apparent that none of them have kept in contact with one another.

The movie starts with a horrific hate crime that ends up with Pennywise's reappearance. A series of disappearances and murders start to arise. There is only only member of the loser crew still living in Derry, Mike. It took me a little getting used to remembering the characters while watching the movie but they did a good job in reminding the audience who was who. Their specific childhood mannerisms and reactions also helped me remember who was who.

I thought they picked the perfect cast to replace the younger actors as their older selves. Of course it helps that the actors that they've chosen to reprise the roles are very established actors.

Back to the story, Mike has been vigilant in learning how to rid Derry of Pennywise once and for all. There are flashbacks to the original loser gang making a pact to get rid of Pennywise if he should ever show his face again. Obviously, with the new crimes being committed Mike makes it his duty to get the loser gang back together to fight Pennywise.

There are a number of flashbacks to their younger selves and I could have swore they filmed the scenes when they made the first movie but apparently it was all done with the new de-aging software they have in Hollywood now. This has got to be some of the most impressive technology ever because it looked seamless and undetectable. That is except for the syncing of the voices with the actors. Some of the flashback scenes may seem off because the voices are a nanosecond off. You'll notice how weird it seems but it's there.

Interesting enough, I thought this was a really well done sequel. I thought there were a lot of in jokes throughout the movie. For example, the character Bill has become a writer. There is a running joke that he can't write endings well. I guess the ending of this movie is different from the original ending. This is also supposed to be the conclusion of the It remake franchise. I've also heard that it's a common joke that Stephen King, the author of It is notorious has difficulty writing endings to his stories.

Stephen King even makes a guest cameo in this movie. I think that it's a really fun cameo because he kind of has some fun with the running bad ending joke.

The movie itself does have a lot of scares spread throughout the movie but I didn't find it terrifying. I think a lot of non-horror fans can enjoy this movie as it is more of an exploration of the origin of Pennywise and the loser crew's journey to eliminate his evil.

Overall, I really liked this sequel. They pulled it off, a sequel that is probably just as good as the original. If you liked the first movie you should definitely check this movie out. Fans of the Stranger Things series will feel at home with the It franchise. I have to give this movie an 8 out of 10. I think I'll probably re-watch this movie when I get the chance.