I enjoyed the first half of It, the 2017 movie that’s based on Stephen King’s mega-sized book about a killer clown named Pennywise who stalks a group of children in a small town in Maine. But I was really eager to see the second half, called It: Chapter Two, because of the original It miniseries that aired on TV back in 1990. In the miniseries, which was produced for TV and had to adhere to the stringent censorship of the format, the first half of the story, with its focus on the children battling Pennywise, was very well done.
But I always thought the miniseries fell flat on its bright red clownish nose during the second half--which deals with the now-grown group of kids who have to fight Pennywise once more as adults. The scares in the second half of the miniseries seemed to have run out of steam (and this was possibly because the miniseries makers faced too much restrictions from the TV format), and the performances from some of the adult actors were nowhere near as good as those from the marvelous child cast of the first half of the miniseries. As a result, the second half of the It miniseries almost feels anticlimactic and dull.
As I sat down to watch It: Chapter Two, I could not help but wonder if this second half of the same story would suffer the same fate, especially seeing how the movie that makes up the second half of King’s beloved story clocked in at almost three hours in length. I had hoped it wouldn’t turn out to be too much. But whatever concerns I had about It: Chapter Two were quickly allayed by the strong adult cast, a sturdy script, and the solid direction of Andy Muschietti (who also helmed the first It film).
The always great Jessica Chastain leads the It: Chapter Two cast as the grown-up Beverly (Chastain also previously worked with Andy Muschietti on the horror film Mama). James McAvoy (Split, Glass; the X-Men films) co-stars as Bill Denbrough, a novelist, and Bill Hader plays Richie (Beep Beep) Tozier, who’s now a famous stand up comedian (and armed as he is with the best lines in the film, Hader is really funny here). The superb Bill Skarsgård reprises his role as Pennywise--at least when he’s in clown form. The second movie continues to wisely go for the shock value by having Pennywise appear in various shapes and creatures, utilizing CGI so effectively that the resulting scenes of horror are genuinely startling.
The young cast from the first film are also present in flashback scenes that build upon the story and help to make us care for these characters. But both of the It films are so well done that they make it very easy to care for these “losers”, no matter what age they are. Despite the second film’s sprawling running time, Muschietti keeps the focus on the story, and I got so caught up in It: Chapter Two, that I barely noticed the time--which is always the mark of a great movie. I’m looking forward to re-watching both It films back to back, not only to enjoy a good story that’s well-told, but also to reassure myself that there are intelligent, sophisticated horror films out there, of all sizes and budgets. It’s just a matter of seeking them out. --SF
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