A One Mann’s Movies review of “It Chapter Two” (2019).
It’s been about three weeks since I saw this film! Sorry for the late posting… life is getting in the way of my movie-writing!
Unlike most of the world’s population, it seems, I found the original “It” from 2017 decidedly so-so. I gave it just 2/5. Would the next chapter be any better?
Bob the Movie Man’s Rating:
The plot.
27 years have passed since the terrors of the first film, and life in Derry, Maine has returned to normal. Indeed, all the kids who have left Derry and got on with their lives have mystically forgotten all that happened to them. The only one to remember is Mike (Isaiah Mustafa, channeling young Denzel) – the only one to stay in town. When Pennywise returns, like a bad-penny(wise) with heart-munching zeal, Mike calls all of his former friends to ask them to follow through on their blood-pact and return to fight their foe. All but one are set to return.
Mike believes a native Indian ritual may finally defeat the shape-shifting clown, but for it to work each member of the team needs to find a personal ‘artifact’ around the town. And that brings each of them into personal danger.
The boys (and girl) are back in town. Isaiah Mustafa, Bill Hader, James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain and Jay Ryan. (Source: Warner Brothers.)
Some superb moments.
A little girl, sat on the bleachers and bored with a school baseball match, is dazzled by a firefly and follows it underneath the seats. It is suddenly captured by white-gloved hands. Pennywise the clown emerges from the darkness, scaring the girl but with honeyed words persuades her to stay. And then….
The brilliant opening that never was. Underneath the bleachers with Pennywise. (Source: Warner Brothers.)
It’s a brilliant bit of film-making, and really should have been the start of the film to replace a rather unpleasant homophobic sequence.
There are a half-dozen other stand-out horror moments to enjoy, but they are scattered across the running time and never gelled into a satisfactory whole for me.
There is also a nice running joke about the ending of a film (within the film) not being half as good as the book; a clear reference to the poor ending of the original film that could never match up to the sexually troubling, and rather un-filmable, ending of the book!
Just make sure you wander off alone.
The film really loses its way in the middle reel, when everybody wanders off alone in search for their “artifacts”. Some of these sections are fun and deliver. Some are a bit lacklustre. But the big issue is that the approach, together with the regular flashbacks to the youngsters, makes the whole middle of the film extremely episodic. The heart of the movie is the interaction between the team… and this section saps all the momentum out of the film.
Say “Ah…”. Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) in the mirror maze. (Source: Warner Brothers.)
A stellar cast.
It sure is an excellent cast, with James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain both acting their blood-stained socks off.
Sophia Lillis is again extremely watchable as the young Beverly, neatly matching – both physically and emotionally – to Chastain’s older character. (Note: there is a moment of marital violence in the film that might upset some more than the pretend horror on show).
Caught in the death headlights. The highly talented Sophia Lillis. (Source: Warner Brothers.)
My favourite turn in the film was Bill Hader as the stand-up comedian Richie Tozier. Always ready with a quip, but underneath it all a selfish and troubled soul.
Look out as well for a nice cameo by Stephen King himself.
End the thing, for the love of God, end it!
One of the things that really annoys me in movies, apart of course from mindless voiceovers, is a finale that goes on and on and on. This is a case in point. After a final battle (which is entertaining if a bit twee and illogical) there are multiple “final scenes” that go on and on and on and then rather end as a whimper rather than a shout.
Reminding me of Mrs Whistler from “Diamonds are Forever”. Mrs Kersh (Joan Gregson) while she still has her clothes on. (“Unsee! Unsee!”). (Source: Warner Brothers.)
It’s better, but still not brill.
Directed by the original “It” director Andy Muschietti, I enjoyed this sequel more than the original. The cast is excellent and the “episodes” although inherently disjointed are good enough to sufficiently entertain throughout. It’s not a great horror film in my book – I actually enjoyed “Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark” far more – but worth a watch.
Trailer:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhJ5P7Up3jA.
