Review of It Chapter Two (2019) by The3Academysins — 08 Sep 2019

IT: Chapter Two was one of my most anticipated films of the year. The 2017 IT is one of my favorite movies I have seen in the past decade. It's a masterpiece of horror that has so much to say about friendship and overcoming life's challenges, and it's scary! Does the second installment that takes place 27 years in the future deliver on the promise the end of the first movie made?

No. Not quite.

IT: Chapter Two shines when it comes to it's acting performances. Bill Skarsgard remains an iconic Pennywise. The adult Losers are really good as well. James McAvoy and Jessica Chastain are amazing, but the real standout star is Bill Hader. Bill Hader brings so much sass and vulnerability to the adult Richie Tozier, and he is hands down the best part of the movie.

Where does Chapter 2 fall short?

The biggest and most notable problem this sequel has is that it is way too reliant on jumpscares, to the point where they became predictable and boring by the end of the film. On that note, the script is way too long and goes in circles, and this movie's three hour runtime could easily have been cut to an hour and a half. Another glaring problem is that the CGI in this sequel just doesn't look good, and a lot of the scares are so reliant on CGI that they aren't even scary. In fact, in a general aesthetic cinematography sense, the movie itself doesn't look as good as the first one, and it was really disappointing to see.

However, all that being said, I still found myself enjoying IT: Chapter Two. While the first movie is a philosophical portrait of young adulthood, this sequel is a carnival rollercoaster. IT: Chapter Two is tacky, but it's a hell of a ride.