Back in 2017, a brand new adaptation of Stephen King's IT was released in theaters. The film became a massive success scoring high ratings with critics and loving praises from audiences, including myself. It turned out to be a genuinely pleasant surprise of a film with incredible child actors playing textured and entertaining characters, suspenseful set-piece moments that are genuinely scary, excellent metaphorical storytelling about childhood, trauma and facing your inner demons, and all of it is held together by the real star of the show, Bill Skarsgåd as Pennywise The Clown. Even people who were not big fans of horror cinema could not help but be utterly impressed with the quality of the film as a whole. While some describe it as a horror film for people who don't like the genre, I have to respectfully disagree. I say it is more like a film that best showcases what makes horror so appealing in a relatively easy to observe manner. It is one of the few horror films I genuinely enjoy, and I am happy to call myself a fan. Needless to say, I was pretty excited for the sequel IT: Chapter 2, and needless to say, it was disappointing. While I still got some entertainment value from the tremendously talented cast and handsome visuals, this sequel, rather sadly, fails to maintain the charm of the first film. Maybe because it never really could.
Based on the second half of the book of the same title by Stephen King, the story follows a group of childhood friends known as The Looses Club who discovered, confronted, and defeated (albeit temporarily) a mysterious carnivorous shape-shifting creature known as IT, who mostly takes on the form of a dancing Clown named Pennywise. After the kids won the battle, they all took an oath to reunite and kill IT should it turn out that IT isn't actually dead. Twenty-seven years later, the kids have all grown up, and sure enough, Pennywise has risen again and is going on his usual hunting and killing spree. Now, The Losers Club must reunite and face their fears once again.
The biggest problem with the second film is that it is just not as impressive as the first. It has long been a common issue with this particular story that the kids as adults are just no longer as engaging or as charming as they were before. Partially due to the repetitive nature of them facing off against Pennywise again, almost as if they suddenly forgot they did so before, and the apparent lack of growth from them as characters. They all grew up into relatively decent and successful people, who have conveniently repressed their memories of taking down a killer supernatural Clown, and now they're basically going through the same arcs they went through before. I suppose the argument could be made that this part of the story is about dealing with repressed trauma and finding the courage to face it head-on, but they technically already faced their greatest fears in the previous film, so I personally believe that argument is invalid.
Even so, let it be said that this lack of interesting characters is not the fault of the cast. Everyone playing the older versions of the characters from the first film does a phenomenal job with the material they are given. James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, and Bill Hader, in particular, deliver some of the best performances of the film. Almost enough to compensate for the inexcusable lack of Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, who has, at best, fifteen minutes of screentime out of a nearly three-hour film.
The good news is the first IT movie succeeds in standing on its own as an individual film. You can easily enjoy the first movie without ever having to watch the second, which is honestly my best recommendation. It genuinely pains me to come down so hard on this film because I was seriously excited about it, I was still impressed with most of the visuals, and the cast provided some excellent entertainment value. However, it is all just not enough to compensate for the less-than-stellar story, repetitive character moments, and lack of genuine scares. This is one movie that just doesn't float very well.
Is this movie worth seeing?
Not really.
Is it worth seeing in Theaters?
No.
Why?
It's too repetitive, has no real texture, and isn't scary. If you absolutely must see this movie, I recommend waiting for Netflix. Don't waste your money on a theater ticket for this one. You will likely have a much more satisfying experience coming up with your own ending.
Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm, thank you all for reading.
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