Two years ago the movie going world was taken by storm by the big budget remake/theatrical adaptation of Stephen King's infamous novel IT. It became the highest grossing horror film of all time making $327 million domestically, an achievement made all the more staggering by the fact that the film was rated R. At the end of the film, unbeknownst to most, came the ominous title card: IT - Chapter One. This cued us all in that a sequel was coming. Anyone who knew the book saw that this was coming as the book showcases two stories happening simultaneously, the story of the kids and the story of the adults.
The book as well as the original television mini series alternated chapters of the adults with chapters of the children, both stories progressing and unfolding together. The 2017 film reapproached the material by streamlining the narrative, separating the two stories and showing us just the kids story by itself. And now we're receiving the adults story.
This new film has a lot to live up to. IT: Chapter One seemed to strike a nerve with audiences and tap into something beyond expectations. The description "Lightning in a bottle" seems appropriate for that film. But can lightning strike twice? 2017 saw perhaps the peak of rated R features with 2018 showing a downward trend with R rated features. By now, IT Chapter 2 has been out for almost a month and, while the film is still doing incredible business for a horror film as well as a rated R film, it is proving less profitable than its predecessor.
I know I'm late. It took me a while to get around to seeing IT: Chapter Two. Well, I've finally seen it! I liked it but I didn't think it was as effective as Chapter One. So let's get into it!
THE PLOT
The Losers Club returns to Derry 27 years later as Pennywise returns for another feeding. Only this time the Losers are ready for Pennywise and armed to destroy him once and for all! But Pennywise is waiting for them with a few tricks of his own in store.
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
It Chapter One benefited greatly from nostalgia and the mythic reputation surrounding both the book and the original television mini series. It also benefited from the fact that the original television mini series had been made for television with a rather limited budget. No matter how much you may love the original television mini series, it set the bar fairly low for a bigger budget theatrical film to surpass. Pennywise was brought to life in 2017 with technology and effects that either didn't exist in 1990 or weren't financially feasible for a television production. Not to mention powerful performances by the child actors and a breakout performance for Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the dancing clown. And then there's this film's presentation of the story, the first to present only the kids side of the story without the adults story.
With horror sequels it is always a difficult task. The audience knows what to expect and they know how the monster works. With certain horror icons like Jason Voorhees and Michael Myers, as a fan, I go to their movies to see them do what they do best, not necessarily to be scared. With icons like Freddy Krueger and Pinhead the possibilities are endless with what they can do thus sequels to these characters' films can still thrill and surprise and horrify. One of the observations I made with Pennywise's depiction in the previous film was how similar to Freddy Krueger he was. One would then think that the character of Pennywise could continue to be interesting in subsequent depictions, right?
Honestly, I felt Pennywise was kind of bland in this second chapter, at least in terms of how he was handled by the filmmakers. Bill Skarsgard continues to kill it with his acting, but I couldn't help but feel as if Pennywise was underwritten in this film. His "game" wasn't upped this time around I felt. In short, I didn't feel this film was as strong in the scares department as the predecessor. Most of what we were seeing was mere illusion and even the protagonists knew these illusions couldn't hurt them. That right there took some of the bite out of it. There were some great moments still such as Beverly meeting the old lady (which was completely given away in the trailers).
Honestly what I really enjoyed this time around was the casting. I loved the actors they cast as the older versions of the kids. Jessica Chastain, working with Andy Muschietti again (MAMA 2013), was great as Beverly. James McAvoy and Bill Hader were wonderful. And the surprising standout for me was James Ransone as Eddie. I've enjoyed James Ransone in the Sinister films as Deputy So-&-So and he is even better here as Eddie. Ransone with Hader made this film surprisingly funny, far funnier than the previous film. As a result I felt myself laughing more than screaming.
I was also surprised at how much of the young cast we were graced with. The actors cast as the Losers in the previous film were all great and this second film gave us a surprisingly large amount of new footage with them, so much so that this film felt more in line with the book and original television mini series as we were constantly jumping back and forth between the past and the present. In this respect this new film felt more faithful to the book.
The sad part though is that the scares weren't as powerful this time around, which I realize is all relative. Fear, like humor, strikes each person differently. What's scary to some may not be scary to others. Personally I felt Pennywise was underutilized. I also noticed even more similarities with Freddy Krueger too, yet where Freddy grew more wild, imaginative, and frightening with subsequent sequels (even Nightmare Pt. 2), Pennywise felt the same at best or subdued at worst. I was also surprised (not in a good way) that the filmmakers essentially repeated Pennywise's final form from the original television mini series. I love stop-motion animation but the ending of the original television mini series is easily the weakest point. While the special effects were good this time around, it's just me but, I wish Pennywise's final form would've been redesigned. The giant spider-crab, even with great special effects, still isn't very intimidating. I really enjoyed Pennywise's backstory and the brief glimpse of his "demon" form from the flashback. I wish they would've gone more in that direction for his final form.
All in all I liked this film but not for the same reasons I liked the previous film. Maybe if they do the prequel and explore Pennywise's origin hopefully they'll be more inventive and daring with the clown, showcasing new scary powers and making him frightening again.
Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10
For more of my thoughts on the previous ITerations and Stephen King adaptations check out these posts below!
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