IT Chapter Two [2019] Review: It has been 27 years since Pennywise terrorised the losers in their sleepy hometown of Derry, Maine. Fortunately, they banded together, they overcame fear and childhood pain and beat the absolute crap out of that space clown. As Cabin in The Woods rightly put it, “The evil is defeated!” – but now – 27 years later they must regroup and kick this clown down once and for all, this time coping with memory loss, trauma and grief-stricken pain.
The best way to summarise this movie is to ask this: Have you been in a scare maze at your local fair or theme park? That is essential, this movie. Expository build-up leading to rhythmic sequences of terror crossing the past and present boundary, each one themed around the individual loser. And let’s be honest, bonafide horror is really where this sequel shines.
Muscheitti gets to flex his creative muscles in the jumpscare department and gives it his all. The creatures, ghouls and giant lumberjacks propelled straight from a Stephen King Necronomicon all do wonders to frighten both the audience and the characters themselves. I particularly enjoyed how they retained Pennywise’s taunting insanity from the first instalment. Additionally, it seems to be a good time to be Bill, because both Skarsgård and Hader give exceptional performances.
Also, read – Why the new “IT” movies suck?
Being the massive fan of 2017 It that I am, I was excited to see how they would carry the emotion over to Chapter Two. Unfortunately, I was incredibly disappointed. For McAvoy’s Bill and Chastain’s Beverly there is an accurate balance of titbits of their younger selves and how they’ve changed since becoming adults.
For characters like Richie and Eddie however, the script swamps them with an overwhelming amount of childishness. Sure, in the more comedic scenes this works, but I felt like there was nothing natural about it – and as a result, it becomes a confusing mesh of both younger and older.
Some of the trauma we are supposed to experience with the losers is so resonant, powerful even, that it makes me forgive the more weirdly placed elements of insecurity and touchy subjects. No spoilers, but the last 5 minutes almost made me slightly nauseated with how they dealt with a sincerely difficult thing to digest.
Andy Muschietti’s It: Chapter Two is monstrous in both substance and proportion. This is a thunderously messy piece of big blockbuster CGI cinema and I cannot say that I overly recommend it. Ironically, I would cover your eyes, hide behind pillows and plug your ears to everything but the scares on display
★★
IT chapter two Trailer
Links: IT official Website.
