IT Chapter Two is the much anticipated second part to Andy Muschietti's adaption of the best-selling novel by Stephen King. And the plot this time revolves around all the members of the losers' club all returning to Derry to fight Pennywise the Dancing Clown, and hopefully put an end to him once and for all, while also dealing with forgotten memories and some unresolved issues of their childhoods.
Obviously we have a new cast playing the adult versions of the main characters, talents like James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader and a few others that are not as well known. I feel slightly conflicted about the performances, as no one really stands out on their own, but when they're all together the on-screen chemistry was very convincing. And I'm also aware of all the praise being directed at Hader, but I just see him as the comedic one in the group, who does get serious once or twice but they all do at some point. I really wasn't too sure how or where he was supposed to be giving this great standout performance. And in the matter of Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise, I take no pleasure in reporting that whatever it was that made him so effective in the first one, is long gone here and he's only good for cheap jump scares.
In some flashback sequences the original cast have been digitally de-aged. They can still play their characters well though, and you really only notice it if you know what to look for... and then notice some people seem taller than others! There's also a really enjoyable cameo that if anyone gets confused at, then why did you see this film?
Gary Dauberman returns to write the script and for all those people who complain of adaptations not being faithful (mostly) to the source material, this will please them as this script is very faithful to the book in quite a lot of ways.
The first few minutes refamiliarise us with the film's idea of violence and intensity in a very brutal way, before rushing through character introductions. But we do believe it's the same people, just older. So the film can get its characters where they need to be so that things can get going. Once things do start to pick up, a pattern starts to show and that pattern goes something like this: scary scene, pleasant flashback, scary scene, two characters talking in the present. Sometimes it's slightly altered to feel different, but looking back it's really not. And of course this film being nearly three hours long, scenes drag and you can most certainly feel it. The scares are also weaker as well; I wasn't big on them in first film, but here after a while I just stopped caring when the signs of a scare were impending. I will commend this script on its faithfulness to the source material, understanding of character and world. But I must condemn it for weaker scares and an overabundance of dragged-out scenes.
While nothing stands out in the cinematography, one thing that has to be mentioned is what I felt was a sincere effort to recreate key environments from the novel. These include the lair of Pennywise, the Chinese restaurant and the run-down Marsh home. They look just as they are described in the book, with every little detail included.
Benjamin Wallfisch returns to compose the score for the film, but he mostly just recycles what people liked from his first score, you can especially hear the music from the first one's opening scene in this film quite a few times. Which I have no problem with, but it does show perhaps a lack fresh ideas, and that is what I have a problem with.
If this film has any unforgivable flaws it's this: when broken down this is a very simple story. Characters reunite and have some rather horrific moments along the way, with the addition of a few very talkative scenes. This all leads up to a final confrontation with the story's main villain, then they all leave and the story's over. All of these were done back in 1990 with the second half of the miniseries all done in just over an hour and a half. But here it's nearly three hours for little to no reason. The first one was just over two hours and did that fine, but the excuse that had is, being the first it had quite a bit more to set up. This film's bloated runtime is inexcusable and if it were shortened to just the important stuff, you would probably have a film the same length or a minute or two longer than the first.
IT Chapter Two succeeds with a cast who don't stand out on their own but show great chemistry when together. There's a villain who has unfortunately lost his touch. A script that rushes past important moments and lets other scenes go on for far too long, and is filled with far too many weak scares. It somewhat redeems itself in being faithful to the source material - nothing stands out visually but the levels of detail that have been put into recreating locations from the book are certainly praiseworthy. And despite the talented Benjamin Wallfisch returning, he does very little here beyond recycle his work from the first film. And the film is unforgivably flawed in having in inexcusable runtime for a very simple story.
And to think this was my most anticipated film of the year, I'm not pleased at all! But I am glad that it's over with now. I'm just going to worry about Doctor Sleep and Salem's Lot now which I just found out about, if anyone ever asks me about this film, I will always give the same answer, I didn't like the ending.
Having taken all my pros and cons into account. I'm going to give IT chapter two...
C+
Thank you for reading.
