Movie Review -- It: Chapter 2

  Has it really been two years since the remake of It came out? I remember it being a well-put together picture with plenty of good scares, some good acting, and a charmingly creepy setting. I also remember that it was only half the story told in the novel (and TV miniseries), showing only the Loser Club's harrowing struggle against a supernatural evil in 1989 as children. So how does the modern-day second outing stack up against the retro one? Let's find out.

  It is 2016 and a new string of It-pattern murders are popping up which prompts Loser Club member Mike to gather the other, now grown-up losers (who are all rich now) back to Derry, Maine, to finish off the killer clown Pennywise once and for all. It's a story that ties in nicely with the first with a lot of flashbacks. However, a lot of these flashbacks end up retconning the previous film, railroading in a bunch of the kids' confrontations with It that weren't shown or even mentioned in the first It. But that's nothing compared to It: Chapter 2's biggest problem: it's way too long! If you're going to make me pay to sit still in one place for nearly three hours then you'd better deliver something that'll make my resisting of going to the bathroom that whole time worth it (or perhaps an intermission like the good old days?). Instead there's not one but two generic inspirational speeches, each Loser has to go searching for old tokens, the ending takes forever to wrap up, and the characters all split up and confront It alone... twice! They could have easily trimmed 45 minutes off and the film would have been better for it.

  Tone is everything in a horror movie and the tone in It: Chapter 2 is sometimes unfocused. Don't get me wrong, there are a bunch of decent scares, Pennywise's kills are rather brutal, and the visual design and effects on the film's various monsters are freaky. But unlike the last film comedy pervades almost every scene. Oftentimes just as something frightening is about to happen somebody does something that ends up being funny rather than unsettling, thus ruining the tone. In other scenes the jokes work fine – and they're downright hilarious at times – but overall It: Chapter 2 is far less scary than its predecessor.

  What Chapter 2 does copy from the first is a great cast that all have good chemistry together. While Bill Skarsgard does just as good a job as before in the role of Pennywise, new faces such as Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, and Bill Hader give splendid performances of their own. Stephen King himself even makes a cameo appearance as a pawnshop owner who is disappointed in novels that have lousy endings. Henry Bowers, the bully from the last film, returns to menace the Losers some more but his presence in this film is kind of wasted.

  I also couldn't help but notice that there's some gaps in logic. For example it's established early on that since she previously saw It's deadlights Beverly knows how each of the Losers is going to die. But after the first death, this ability never comes into play nor is it mentioned again. Also, we see that in 2016 body parts are washing up in Derry's river and has made front page news in that town. So why has it not made national news? And when you think about it It kind of sucks at catching people. He wastes time messing around with his prey and as long as you can run and avoid falling for his tricks then you'll be fine, even if you're just a kid.

  Regardless, It: Chapter 2 is simply OK, a far cry from the one we got two years ago. It runs for much too long, the script could have used another edit or two, and the experience isn't as scary as the one before it. Basically a handful of good scares, a bunch of laughs, and a few standout performances are all that keep this one afloat.

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