'It: Chapter Two' Movie Review

It: Chapter Two picks up 27 years after the first film left off (with intermittent flashbacks thrown in). When Pennywise the Clown (Bill Skarsgård) resurfaces after a twenty seven-year sleep, Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa), who chose to remain in their hometown of Derry, must reunite the Losers Club: Bill (James Macavoy), Richie (Bill Hader), Eddie (James Ransone), Ben (Jay Ryan), Stanley (Andy Bean), and Beverly (Jessica Chastain). Together, they’ll have to finish what they started all those years ago to defeat Pennywise for good.

While I know many people have a nostalgic attachment to it, I never really cared for the 1990 miniseries version of It. I always thought it was too long, the effects weren’t very good, and I found Tim Curry too delightful to be scary. But then they made a new movie version in 2017, and I dug the hell out of it. For one, they condensed the film into just the part of the story in which the main characters were kids, which helped the pacing exponentially. It also helped that, because it was a theatrical film instead of being made for network TV, the film was able to be as bloody as necessary (it is about a clown who eats children, after all). And then, at the end of the movie, it was revealed (as many of us were hoping/expecting) that 2017’s It was merely part 1, and that a sequel would finish out the story with our protagonists as adults. Not only that, but three of said protagonists would be played by A-list actors, so I was pretty excited for this movie.

I really liked It: Chapter Two, however, much like with Midsommar, I kind of understand, and in some cases, agree with, the gripes many people have about it. But they didn’t really stop me from loving it. As usual, I’ll talk about the positives first.

This cast... is... phenomenal! Pretty much every leading player has to do some heavy lifting acting-wise. Bill Skarsgård, once again, knocks it out of the park as Pennywise, his physicality and line delivery making him all the more skin-crawling. James Macavoy is as wonderful as always, which is great, considering this is the first good movie he’s been in this year, despite being in three different blockbusters (he was obviously not at fault for the quality of the first two). While he is the central focus of a lot of the movie, he never hogs the spotlight, as this is mostly an ensemble piece. Jessica Chastain is also terrific, as a good deal of her arc is dealing with trauma from her abusive father and harrowing premonitions. Isaiah Mustafa (whom many will know as the “I’m on a horse” guy from the Old Spice commercials) is given a great chance to show off his acting chops, and he’s not half bad, given that he started out as an athlete, and then a jokey mascot. Jay Ryan, who plays grown-up, beefed-up Ben, is a relative unknown, with the exception of the god-awful reboot of the Beauty & the Beast show and some various New Zealand TV shows. I could easily see him becoming a successful leading man, because not only does he foot the bill, he’s quite a capable actor. James Ransone, who plays the older Eddie, is also a fairly under-the-radar character actor, but he has appeared in Sinister and In a Valley of Violence, both of which I like. He’s not only a dead ringer for Jack Dylan Grazer, who played young Eddie, but he perfectly recaptured his nervous personality and manic mannerisms, which was very impressive. While Andy Bean, a.k.a. grown Stanley Uris (also an exact match for his younger counterpart), is given less screen time than the other Losers, he makes the most of what he is given, delivering an emotional, heartbreaking performance. And then, there’s Bill Hader. Oh my god, he’s unbelievable. His character, Richie, has to simultaneously be the comic relief and the dramatic heavyweight, which is not any easy task. While Hader is known primarily for comedy, he has made very clear that he has a very bright future in dramatic work, as well.

One of the things I loved about the first film was the really creepy and creative designs. The titular villain, while spending most of its time in clown form, is able take any form it wants, provided it can instill fear in its victim(s). This makes It fairly unpredictable. Jump scares often get a bad rap, but they can be used well. The first It was able to telegraph when/where a jump scare was coming, but then it would throw a very unexpected image at the audience. This was a great way of subverting the viewers’ expectations, and luckily, It: Chapter Two does the same. There’s a particular moment in the film that was heavily advertised in the trailer, and they teased the scare to which it was building. But in the movie, we don’t see exactly what we thought we were gonna see. I really liked that element of unpredictability. It’s like a haunted house: you know when something is about to jump out, but you don’t always know what. It adds a great element of fun to it. I have to give major props to the design team, because some of the creatures we see are just awesome. One in particular has a very Cronenbergian vibe to it, which is always a plus, in my book. This brings me to the effects themselves. Much like Crawl from earlier this year, the effects don’t always look 100% real, but the danger always feels real, which counts for a lot. This one didn’t feel quite as dire as the first, given that our protagonists are no longer children, but Pennywise still managed to chill plenty of spines in the theater. I was also very pleased with the handful of homages to other horror movies that were thrown in. One of them was actually a direct recreation (even the camera angle and lighting) of a moment from one of my favorite movies of all time, followed by Richie saying one of the lines from that scene. Blatant as it was, it still fit the context of the scene, and I was delighted.

Now, we do have to talk about the movie’s shortcomings, because they do need to be addressed. The movie is quite long, nearly three hours. A lot of people have said that they really felt the runtime, and I can understand that. For the most part, I didn’t mind it, but there are a couple of scenes that do drag. A lot of that is related to the pacing, which is slightly inconsistent at times, but again, that wasn’t a huge detractor for me in most cases. There are also a couple scenes/setups that build and then end rather abruptly. A lot of that has to do with them obviously attempting to recreate the iconic opening of the first film, but it just felt unnecessary. There are actually several moments in the film that feel a bit too repetitious, and that was a little irritating, but I didn’t hate it.

It: Chapter Two isn’t quite as good as its predecessor. It’s a bit too long, it’s not as scary, and the novelty has worn off a bit. But that didn’t stop me from loving it. The cast was fabulous (including a brilliant Bill Hader as you’ve never seen him before), the creature designs were horrifying, and the clever way it toys with audiences is incredibly fun. I look forward to plenty of other gory, big-budget Stephen King adaptations in the future.

SCORE: 4.5/5