Does “It Chapter Two” Surpass the Horrors of the Original? [Review]

We take a look at what works and what didn’t.

IT-Chapter-Two-review

Ever since we saw the Losers’ Club defeat Pennywise, the ‘Eater of Worlds’ in IT (2017), we all had an inkling the Losers’ would have to fulfill their blood-oath someday. So how well did that go in IT Chapter 2?

For those of us who read the book its based on, we were expecting disappointment all along. Yet after the first film, we were also kind of hopeful.

Apparently the sequel had everything it needed to stick the landing. However, despite the stellar adult cast, Bill Skarsgard and a bigger budget proved to be letdowns.

Credit where credit’s due. The opening moments of the movie show that it’s off to a great start. Until they didn’t. Moments between Bill Hader as Richie and James Ransone as Eddie saved the day.

So let us analyze what worked and what didn’t this time. Here’s the breakdown.

Plot

The IT (2017) sequel did its best to cram in the remainder of Stephen King’s mammoth novel inside a 3 hours long screenplay. Hands off to Gary Dauberman for trying his best. In fact, some of his additions were actually better.

The opening scene of the film was captivating right away with Adrian drowning and Pennywise reaching out to grab his hand. For those who haven’t seen the movie yet. Relax this is also the opening scene of the trailer.

Pennywise claims his first victim in IT Chapter 2?

So far so good. Where did things take a nosedive?

There is no doubt that there’s nothing wrong with the script or the story. The problem was with the length of the whole thing. Despite a three hours long screenplay, the film didn’t do justice to the story and ended up cutting out key parts.

Where the script did shine through was the ending. The novel’s ending was too out of this world to be adapted accurately. Rather than copy the IT (1990) ending, writer Gary Dauberman did his own thing.

Thank God for that because Gary stuck that ending. For those of us that read the book, the Shokopiwah ritual of Chud was spot on.

Direction

While there is no doubt that Andy Muschietti did a phenomenal job with IT (2017), the sequel didn’t go so well. Had he chosen to adapt the remaining script into three rather than two movies, things would definitely have been better.

On the director’s part, carefully integrating flashbacks from the Loser’s Club child cast in was a good move. The part where he might have gone overboard was too much CGI monsters rather than using Skarsgard as he did in the first film.

The way these flashbacks were picturized also feel like you’re looking at something through rose-colored glasses. This is a huge plus given the tone of the film.

The movie also makes good use of our fear centers. That may explain why those emotional scares worked better.

Appearances by Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise and jump scares did most of the heavy lifting on getting our hearts racing. Where the original Pennywise played on people’s regular fears to get our blood pumping, the Pennywise in IT Chapter 2 was at times at a scary monster pageant, looking to upstage others on visuals.

 

Acting

The adult cast for the Losers’ Club was picked by the child cast, and they picked wisely (man did they out-do themselves).

IT Chapter 2
Loser’s Club all grown up in IT Chapter 2

IT Chapter 2 cast James McAvoy as Bill, Jessica Chastain as Beverly, Bill Hader as Richie, Jay Ryan as Ben, James Ransone as Eddie and Andy Bean and Stanley Uris.

When it comes to Andy Bean as Stanley Uris, he had us crying and overwhelmed by emotion in seconds. Stanley was always the most mature in the lot and he really does look exactly like young Stanley, just taller and with glasses.

“He was wise beyond his years.”

IT Chapter 2
Andy Bean as the adult Stanley Uris in IT Chapter 2

ALSO READ

Bill Hader’s Dark Humor Steals the Spotlight in “It Chapter 2”


Moments between Bill Hader as Richie and James Ransone as Eddie gave us flashbacks of our own. All the praise Bill Hader is getting for playing Richie is supported by James Ransone as Eddie. These two really held the screen.

While Bill Skarsgard didn’t take center-stage as Pennywise, his appearing as a crazy man at Beverly’s old apartment in Derry did give us a bit of our killer clown fix.

IT Chapter 2
Bill Skarsgard in IT Chapter 2

Meanwhile, Teach Grant as Henry Bowers was insanely good (or criminally insane if you look at it).

Many sequel films fail to live up to the hype and expectations of the original. Looks as though IT Chapter 2 suffered a similar fate.

 

  • Plot
  • Direction
  • Acting
3.5

Summary

Many sequel films fail to live up to the hype and expectations of the original, and IT Chapter 2 suffered a similar fate. Despite efforts from the writer and cast to pull the project through. It just didn’t deliver as it should have. The CGI monsters didn’t fill in for Pennywise’s absence.
Bill Hader as Richie and James Ransone as Eddie save this movie in more ways than one though..