IT: CHAPTER 2 REVIEW: (written by JK)
THE BASIC PLOT:
Taking place 27 years after the events of the 1st It (from 2017), Pennywise returns and Mike gathers the losers club back together to end it once and for all.
Reuniting and regaining the memories they lost after leaving Derry, they prepare to gather old items representing their lost memories of Pennywise to prepare a ritual to take it down permanently.
Unfortunately for them, Pennywise isn’t just waiting around doing nothing…..
CHARACTERS:
The Child Actors are again quite good in flashbacks, and their adult selves also capture their character quite well. Richie is still a comedic powerhouse and one of my favourite characters in the movie.
Mike drives the plot by being the one to bring the Losers Club back together & providing the quest to prepare to stop Pennywise permanently. His mental state has obviously changed due to being the only
one of the main cast to retain his memories before this movie, making him a good case of how much Pennywise can affect someone. There’s something oddly hilarious how momma’s boy Eddie has a wife played
by the same actress that portrayed his mother.
Pennywise toys with his prey, yet shows a bit more hatred than the previous movie showing how his defeat affected him too. On top of that, there’s a scene that actually makes it believable that a child
would willingly go towards him, unlike the previous movie where the only scene of such had him acting creepy in a sewer grate. He’s handled pretty well, but his defeat seemed a tad…..weak to be honest.
There’s also another returning character who I won’t spoil, but despite all the buildup & showing how much his mind degraded after the first movie, he’s kind of offed pretty simply. There was also a
potential villain in Beverly’s husband, but he just disappears from the story (the majority of his plot relevance was cut from the book). So some characters aren’t as utilized as they could be.
STORY:
Although the movie was enjoyable, It: Chapter 2 felt like Fetch Quest: The Movie for quite a while. During the gathering of the objects needed to defeat Pennywise, it felt fairly repetitive (go to a place,
flashback to the past where Pennywise does something “scary”, then back to the present day where they get their item along with another jump scare. Rinse and repeat around 5 more times). The fight against
Pennywise lasts quite a while, but it was a lot more enjoyable than the overly long fetch quest in my opinion.
A lot of Pennywise’s tricks and manipulations involve hallucinations, adding to the madness he brings. These often influence the character’s actions as he attempts to bring fear to the Losers Club.
Interestingly enough, he targets people outside the main cast as well this time, providing more motivation for the heroes to stop him. Pennywise’s past also gets expanded on in a pretty odd way that you wouldn’t
really expect when looking at his clown-like appearance. Although the climax felt a tad underwhelming (Pennywise’s defeat), the story closed good enough…..though not sure what the heck they’re going to do if
those rumors about an It: Chapter 3 are true.
SETTING:
The movie is set in the same small town as the previous It, a fairly old-fashioned place where the pastures are roamed by assholes galore. A good example of this is the scene at the start, a very brutal
homophobia inspired murder heavily based on the real life killing of Charlie Howard, right down to being thrown off a bridge (although the real life version doesn’t include a killer man-eating clown demon).
Although I dislike the fetch-quest part of the movie, it goes out of it’s way to show a lot of places of the town (from stores, arcades, and even a carnival). Pennywise’s lair is quite large and shows a surprisingly
good amount of variety of scenery, despite being what’s essentially a cave (including a room with 3 doors)
SOUND:
The acting is pretty good, and the music is quite fitting. The psychos feel psychotic, and Pennywise sounds like he’s having a lot of fun toying around with the protagonists. Though sadly it does that horror
movie cliche where the music builds up and stops, trying to fool people into there being a jump scare only for nothing to be there – only to have said jumpscare seconds later. Too many horror movies do it these
days.
CONCLUSION:
Despite It: Chapter 2 being a horror, there’s also tons of comedy to be found (a couple instances even unintentional).
It works as a sequel quite well, but as a movie, it’s a tad too long with a lot of padding. The CGI also sadly feels a tad outdated at certain parts, but there’s plenty of interesting visuals
(Such as a Naked Zombie Grandma chasing someone with her windsock-like boobs flapping about every whichway mid-chase…..yes, that actually happens in the movie)
Don’t go in expecting a super serious, scary horror movie. Just have fun with it and you’ll probably have a good time. It’s goofy, gory fun.
NOTE:
This review is the opinion of one individual and doesn’t equal fact or the opinions of others, as every opinion is unique.
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