It Chapter Two Review

The horror genre has been going through a renaissance period. Many of these films received critical acclaimed and bigger name actors have been attached to these term films. The second part of It was a big scale entry for the genre.

27 years after The Losers defeated Pennywise (Bill Skargård) the spirit of “It” returns to the town of Derry. People start to disappear and die in gruesome ways. Mike Hanlon (Isiah Mustafa), who remained in the town calls his former friends and get them to return to the town. But the friends have forgotten about their lives in Derry and have to face their past as well as the killer clown spirit.

The first It was a huge hit in 2017. It made $700 million from a $35 million budget and due to its ‘80s setting and the young cast gave the film a Spielbergian quality. The sequel was highly anticipated – it had an increased budget of $75 million and got star power in the form of James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain. But it also had a lot to live up to.

The first film was developed by Cary Fukunaga who co-wrote the screenplay and was set to direct before he and Warner Brothers split over creative differences. The first film still used most of his screenplay. The second film lost that influence and suffered because of it.

The first film was a coming-of-age story about kids that happened to have a supernatural threat, the second was about characters facing their past and fears. This was a solid theme to use for the film, especially for Bill (McAvoy) and Beverly (Chastain). Bill’s suffering guilt because he feels responsible for his younger brother’s death and Beverly was abused by her father, which affected her relationships.

All the characters except one have moved on from the town and through some sort of supernatural phenomenon, they have forgotten about their past in Derry. It means the characters have different responses when they are back in Derry, from facing their fears and issues to wanting to run away.

The casting was pitch-perfect. The adult cast did look and act like the younger visions. The characters have moved onto bigger and better things when they left Derry – Bill became a successful author, Richie (Bill Hader) was a stand-up comedian, and Beverly worked as a fashion designer. Some of the characters regained some of their old characteristics when they returned to Derry like Bill’s stutter and Ritchie excessively swearing.

Andy Muschietti is clearly a talented director. He excesses with grotesque imaginary and big set-pieces. It is easy to see why Warner Brothers want to keep him as an in-house director – he is the latest director attached to the trouble Flash production.

It: Chapter 2 has a run time of nearly three hours. This was approaching the length of films like Spartacus, Lawrence of Arabia, and The Godfather – films packed with characters and story. It: Chapter 2 was thin on story which made the film drag. The main goal of the characters was to find a personal item that they could sacrifice it. The Losers basically meander about as they explore the town and their past which was frustrating because people who saw the first film know this already.

It: Chapter 2 got distracted by subplots. There was one where it was revealed that The Losers had a falling out after defeating Pennywise and he was still present, haunting the character. This undercuts the outcome of the previous film considering what the younger characters went through and these scenes just served as an excuse to show the younger Losers again. The subplot where Bowers (Teach Grant) escapes from a mental hospital was mild for most of the film that it was easy to forget it happened. A plotline where Bill tries to save a young boy from Pennywise felt like it should have been an episode in a TV series.

It: Chapter 2 was blessed with a fantastic cast and there were some impressive sequences and visuals. But it was a bloated and required a lot of shaving during the writing and editing phases.