It Chapter Two

Pennywise Is Back, And It's Got A Brand New Attack. In this sequel to the 2017 hit film IT & continued adaptation of Stephen King's famous novel of the same name, we see the adult Loser's Club: Bill, Beverly, Ben, Eddie, Richie, Stan, and Mike (played by James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Bill Hader, Andy Bean, and Isaiah Mustafa, respectively) return to Derry, Maine to finally defeat Pennywise (played by Bill Skarsgård) once and for all. And for me, everything about this sequel worked! I actually liked this film much more than the first film; I don't find either one to be necessarily scary, but I found the first one much less so than this film. One aspect I really liked about this film was something that both the book and the 1990 TV adaption were known for, and that's intertwining of the adults' story with flashbacks to when they were kids. I thought all the adult actors had great chemistry with each other, but having these flashbacks of new scenes to when they were kids helped put a point on their great chemistry. Another reason I probably like the flashbacks so much is because the adults were so perfectly cast that they actually look like they could be the adult versions of the kid actors, and it was nice to see both versions on screen in the same movie. I also liked the Losers' solo adventures in Derry (which I'll get more into in a bit) because it gave the audience more story and scares that tie into the first film that we didn't actually see in that movie. I will say that not everything worked for me in this movie. One thing I couldn't stop hearing/thinking about involved James McAvoy. At certain points when he talked or stuttered, his voice reminded me so much of his Hedwig personality in Split, so whenever he'd talk, it would pull me out of the movie a bit and make me laugh. There is also a certain story point from the 90s TV movie and the book that they didn't include in this film, even though there's a scene with Eddie that sets that story point up; I think had they gone through with it, it would have given a better reasoning for something happening during the climax rather than the explanation they did give... Now, as I've already stated, the Adult Losers go off on their separate adventures in Derry; this is for them to find "tokens" that mean something to them so they can perform "The Ritual of C.H.U.D." which is something that Stephen King wrote about in his original novel, and I was happy to see it make it onto this adaptation! It's just such a weird and out there concept that everyone now gets to experience on screen. While the Losers are on their adventures a couple of the actors get to shine, namely Bill Hader and James Ransone (my favorite scene involved them trying to escape from Pennywise through 1 of 3 doors, similar to a scene in the first IT film). Hader was a perfect Richie, and stole the show for me; he was able to convey all the emotions and remain the most riveting character on screen even with "bigger named" actors like McAvoy and Chastain. Ransone had a really great scene that I don't want to spoil, but it takes place in the bathroom of the hotel he's staying in, so get ready to get a bit of a laugh in that kind of scary scene. Overall, IT: Chapter Two is a fun, nearly 3 hour horror film that ventures into "weirdness". I don't think you need to necessarily watch the first film before seeing this one, but doing so does give you more background to the close friendship of the Losers. 5 out of 5 ⭐