Clowns absolutely suck, man. Whether they are slaughtering the children of a small, beaver-trapping town or taking home the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, 2019 is apparently a great year to be a clown. Not all of them can come off ultimately terrifying, however, and It: Chapter Two proves that in the most mediocre ways possible. Andy Muschietti's follow-up to his smash horror adaptation of It from 2017 is underwhelming to say the least and satisfyingly entertaining to say the most. This film provides so much closure and detail in regards to these kids' stories that was fantastic to see - given that it's hard not to love these characters - but at the cost of telling a story whose sole purpose is to amuse rather than scare. Fortunately, there is still so much to like about this movie (yes, I speak mostly of Bill Hader) and as long as you were a fan of its predecessor, then there is no doubt that you will enjoy the conclusion of this psychologically eerie series.
Twenty-seven long years after the Losers Club disbanded, the kids, now functioning adults, get an ominous call from Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) about the return of Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) and his murderous behavior in the town of Derry, Maine. As the friends travel back home and reunite, they decide to make good on their oath and agree to do anything it takes to stop It from hurting anyone else. Gary Dauberman's script for this movie was often hit or miss. Where it hit, it hit very hard: the introductions of these characters as adults were stupendous as he was able to capture their personalities extremely well with their careers and where their lives had led them. I also thought it was incredibly clever to have the adult versions of these characters basically end up with someone who was very representative of what their worst fears were as kids. This small detail was fantastic to catch and added that extra layer of connectedness that the audience needed, especially if you watched both films back to back. While many people I know have criticized this movie as being far too long or having many unnecessary scenes, I do not entirely agree with that. While an almost three-hour runtime can be a bit much for audiences, I think Muschietti handled it extremely well because of his focus on familial themes. It definitely did not feel like that long of time spent in a theater, but there were some issues that I had with the writing. I do not think that the flashbacks took up too much time, but I believe less time should have been devoted to tying up loose ends and filling in the details of the story. A good majority of this runtime was spent recapping a lot from the first film; enough to the point that one might not even need to see the first to understand what happens in this sequel.
One aspect of It: Chapter Two that I'm certain we can all agree on is the god-tier casting. Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, and Andy Bean as the adult versions of Beverly (Sophia Lillis), Bill (Jaeden Martell), Ritchie (Finn Wolfhard), Mike (Chosen Jacobs), Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor), Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer), and Stanley (Wyatt Oleff), respectively, were all phenomenal choices. It would seem like with a cast this stacked, there would be room for slack in terms of only seeking out A-list stars, but the casting directors did an outstanding job. Especially with the latter two, Eddie and Stanley; Ransone and Bean look like they were quite literally aged from Grazer and Oleff themselves and it is simply unbelievable how similar they look. All of the performances throughout this movie were great as well and showed how much these artists are on top of their game. They all embodied so many little characteristics and personality traits from the younger versions of themselves that were captivating to see. As expected, Bill Hader completely steals this movie and brings a whole other level of depth to Ritchie that was practically absent with just Wolfhard in the first film. His personal arc was also written to be more emotional than anyone could have expected, which brought out the pure talent from Hader. My only issue with the usage of the child actors this time around was their CGI faces. They had been de-aged just enough to make them seem out of place during the flashbacks and it was so distracting that it almost felt unnatural.
Andy Muschietti still nails this film's tone and continues the perfect balance of comedy and horror that was present in the first, but stylistically, this film lacked much more. The cinematography from Checco Varese felt much flatter than that of Chung-hoon Chung in this movie's predecessor. Chung brought such flawless style and depth that I just could not feel in this addition. The CGI in It: Chapter Two was also a bit wacky. Not only with the faces of the children, but some monsters and disturbingly horrific shots looked very cheesy and obviously computer-generated. While the first film relied on a lot of practical effects and makeup, the use of CGI in this movie made it feel more like a typical, blockbuster film. I also felt as if this movie was straying away from the horror genre too much; I was not scared throughout this movie as much as I was rooting for these characters, which made it feel like more of a sci-fi film in all honesty. Thank Muschietti that his direction was still compelling or this might have been a much bigger, tonal mess.
It: Chapter Two had the potential to be a much more well-crafted film, but at least it gave us one of the most emotional performances of the year. This movie is an incredibly solid conclusion to the terrifying tale of these children and a perfect ending that even Stephen King himself is proud of. Even though this film gives us story in places that no one really asked for and leaves out story where it's most desired, it is undeniable that Muschietti has made another excellent entry into the modern horror genre.
My Rating: ★★★½
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