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

I personally didn't enjoy IT 2017 so I didn't have much hope for part 2 but I was expecting them to at least tone down the CGI instead they went overkill with it no imagination used here just in your face flashy CGI effects that look fake and plastic the only thing frightening about this movie is that sadly because it made money at the box office more Stephen King books are going to get remakes and it won't be long before we get an all CGI Maximum Overdrive movie remake.

There are more scenes with Pennywise transforming and creating twisted ways to mess with the returning losers club members but sadly they are all done with CGI and are all standard copy and paste scenes from the original mini series and when the movie finally gets to it's climax the makers of this "Horror Movie" think by simply making Pennywise bigger it instills more fear into the audience when really all it does is scream CGI and all the suspence is watered down to bigger pixels on screen than there where before "Terrifying"

The only and I do mean only saving grace this movie has is the cast they all do a great job on screen especially considering they have to pretend to be scared and flee in terror from a green screen it's not the actors fault this movie was a big let down.

I recommend watching the original IT mini series if you haven't already seen it Tim Curry's performance as Pennywise is the reason why people who grew up in the 90s have a fear of clowns because a great actor in the right role can make all the difference in a movie Tim Curry will always be Pennywise no matter how many remakes are made just like Judy Garland will always be Dorothy in The Wizard of OZ there performance makes the movie so memorable and it can't be re-created no matter how much CGI you use.

In 1913, Henry Ford introduced the assembly line to the Ford Motor Company. He made a ton of money and was hailed as a leading innovator. Now just a hundred years later, director Andy Musciehtti brings that same assembly line principle to It Chapter Two as he serves up his scary products in the exact fashion as the one before.

This sequel to the highest-grossing horror movie of all time (unadjusted) takes place 27 years later in the same town of Derry, Maine. The rambunctious kids are all adults now and have gone on their separate paths to some form of success. Unfortunately, the good fortune for each is put to an end by the return of Pennywise, who seeks more victims for his twisted games. Being the only ones that have stopped the evil force, the adults must come together again to put an end to this bloody mess.

Director Andy Muschietti returns behind the camera after the record-breaking success he earned from 2017's "It". For the second time around, Muschietti goes even bigger and bolder than before, both in terms of the horror set pieces and the length.

When it comes to giving audiences what they came to see, Muschietti delivers on adding even more blood, gore, and creepiness. Pennywise's indescribable powers get even more creative as his prey are stalked and slaughtered with unnerving brutality.

The biggest fault that plagued the previous film was its recycling of cheap jump scares that were meant to artificially hold your attention. That same problem is even more glaring in the sequel as any scary moments are just startling moments where something pops out at the screen. The more they happen, the more predictable and boring they are to watch.

A runtime is never indicative of quality by itself, every movie should earn its length through skill and craftsmanship. And at 170 minutes, "It Chapter Two" falls way short of earning its record-breaking runtime. Instead of the horror being a slow burn, it's more of a slow churn as the recycled jump scares quickly lose their minuscule luster and make this already long film feel even longer.

Screenwriter Gary Dauberman takes up the impossible task of adapting Stephen King, a challenge that has killed the careers of countless adapters before him.

Dauberman tries his best to break away from the ridiculousness within King's novel, but his efforts end up backfiring on him and make the film even more awkward as some elements are left in and some left out. The story wants you to take it pretty seriously, but keeping in the weird elements make that almost an impossible task.

Muschietti didn't do much to justify the excessive length, but Dauberman should shoulder more of the blame with his uneven pacing. The film starts great with the together and playing off each other with a fun and brisk pace. Then, against all logic, Dauberman has them split up for ninety minutes, severely slowing things to a crawl and forcing the jump scares to keep you awake.

The highest regards should go to casting director Rich Delia as he has brilliantly put together a group of adult actors that uncannily look like their younger counterparts. Unfortunately, good looks are the only quality some actors possess here.

James McAvoy does fine as Bill. The most evident acting trait he shows off is his struggle to hide his Scottish accent with a less than convincing New England one.

Having a rocky 2019, to say the least, Jessica Chastain follows up the bomb that was "Dark Phoenix" with another subpar performance. She doesn't shine as brightly as Sophia Lillis' younger Beverly despite being the more acclaimed actress with a lot more screen time.

The standout performances come from the two Bills in the cast, Hader and Skarsgård. Hader plays adult Richie and fairs the best in the cast at toeing the line between drama and comedy.

Skarsgård as Pennywise is a sight to see but unfortunately doesn't get seen for long stretches. Between him and Heath Ledger's Joker, future performances for clowns now have an insanely high bar to reach.

With over five hours of material between two films, the "It" series has come to a less than satisfying close with "It Chapter Two". There are some things to admire Muschietti and co. for doing or trying to do. But for every great Bill Skarsgård moment (which is all of them), there were just as many moments of wasted potential due to unoriginal filmmaking. Overall, between its highs and lows, "It Chapter Two" makes for a semi-enjoyable time. Just make sure to bring a seat cushion.

I really, realllly wanted to like this film. As a huge fan of the original mini-series (and EVERYTHING Tim Curry), I knew I'd have a challenge going into both Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 with an open mind. I had to separate. I didn't have as high of expectations as I did for Chapter 1 as Part 2 of the mini series was much weaker than the Part 1 anyway as well as Stephen King's It (Book).

The actors were great. Even the first few jump scares were decent, and then it just became overkill. And not scary whatsoever. All of the CGI monsters look ridiculous and completely take you out of the moment. I grew up watching 80s/90s horror (AND LOVING IT). The baddies were REAL and TERRIFYING. For example, Mrs. Massey, the bloated bathtub corpse in The Shining. That was a real, completely horrifying image that has stayed with me 30 years after I First saw the movie. I don't understand the obsession with CGI when there's no need for it.

Sadly, this movie was just a drawn out bore.

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.