Review by LL Soares
If you enjoyed IT (2017), based on the Stephen King novel of the same name, there’s a good chance IT: CHAPTER TWO (2019) will bring things to a satisfying conclusion for you. CHAPTER TWO expands on the previous film by showing us the Loser’s Club, who defeated the demonic clown Pennywise in the first film, now as adults 27 years later, brought back to their hometown to take on the monster once again.
The strong cast includes Jessica Chastain as Beverly Marsh (she was played by Sophia Lillis in the first film), James McAvoy as Bill Denbrough (he was previously played as a kid by Jaeden Martell), Bill Hader as Richie Tozier (previously played by Finn Wolfhard from STRANGER THINGS), Isaiah Mustafa as Mike Hanlon (previously played by Chosen Jacobs), Jay Ryan as Ben Hanscom (previously played by Jeremy Ray Taylor), James Ransone as Eddie Kaspbrak (previously Jack Dylan Grazer), and Andy Bean as Stanley Uris (previously Wyatt Oleff). Even though this is the adult part of the story, we still get flashbacks to the kids once in a while.
It turns out most of them moved away from Derry, Maine, and lived lives independent from their childhood trauma, but not everyone has made the most of their second chances (after not getting killed by Pennywise as kids). For example, Beverly is married to an abusive jerk, while chubby kid Ben has grown up into a handsome and successful businessman. It also turns out that, the more time they spent away from Derry, the less they remember living there, and the monster clown they united against. The one person who stayed behind is Mike Hanlon, who might be the saddest character in the film, because he never got a chance to forget it (having never left) and his life is sort of a shambles. He lives alone in a room above the town library, where he collects clippings of anything nefarious that sounds like old Pennywise is back. He also consulted with a local shaman for ways to prepare for the demon’s inevitable return. But really, there’s no way to prepare for Pennywise.
Mike is the one who calls everyone back when Pennywise returns from whatever hibernation he was in and starts killing again—making it clear that their mission is not yet done. Everyone comes back home, if reluctantly, except for one of them (I won’t say who). Immediately upon returning to Derry, each of them is singled out and confronted by Pennywise in various disguises, creating illusions that are meant to overwhelm them and scare them half-to-death. The objective is clear, Pennywise wants these people to leave, since they almost finished him off last time. But they’re not going. Despite their combined sense of fear, they also get strength from one another, and realize they have to finish the job they started.
It’s clear that, with 27 years between the two films, the adult versions find it hard to believe that they were able to defeat Pennywise the first time, and doubt that they could do it again. But they have reservoirs of courage that they haven’t tapped into yet.
The big showdown underground, while action-packed, feels a bit like a retread of the similar battle that capped off the first film. But it mostly works. And the cast is strong. I especially like Chastain here, and Hader, in a rare dramatic role, steals just about every scene he’s in. And Hader’s Richie plays well off hypochondriac Eddie throughout.
I still find this version of Pennywise (Bill Skarsgard) kind of fascinating, as he alternates between acting child-like and innocent one moment, and all teeth and murder the next. It’s definitely a different take than Tim Curry’s when he played Pennywise in the 1990 TV miniseries based on the same book. It just wouldn’t have worked if Skarsgard just imitated Curry’s much-loved performance, and I like what he does with the character.
The sequel, like the first film, is directed by Andy Muschietti, who does a fine job here. The script this time is by Gary Dauberman (the first film was written by Dauberman with Chase Palmer and Cary Joji Fukunaga), based on King’s novel. And Stephen King himself has a cameo in the film as a shopkeeper when Bill Denbrough stops to buy a bike that looks just like the one he had as a kid.
At two hours and 49 minutes, IT: CHAPTER TWO is almost three hours long, and there are times when it feels it (in comparison, the first film was a measly two hours and 15 minutes!). Strangely, there was also a kind of childhood magic that imbued the first film, which is clearly lacking here. Not all of the characters are as interesting as adults as they were as kids. McAvoy, in particular—an actor I normally like a lot—didn’t feel like he had a lot to do in this one. And, while it does a good job showing us what comes next, there was something lacking about CHAPTER TWO that made it slightly less enjoyable for me than the first one.
I’m sure fans of King’s novel will have problems with some of the differences between the book and the movies, but, as I said in the beginning, if you were happy with the first film, chances are good you’ll like the second. It’s not perfect, but it’s a solid conclusion to the previous film’s story, and it has some terrific moments (and some tedious ones). I give it three and a half knives.
LL Soares gives IT: CHAPTER TWO ~ 3 1/2 knives!
© Copyright 2019 by LL Soares
L.L. Soares 