Both good and bad

Rating: 5/10 (6 September 2019)

For anyone who is curious, this film does diverge quite a bit from the book and when it doesn't diverge, it liberally reinterprets. There are a lot of homages and plot points that will make some sense to people who are familiar with the book and/or miniseries, but may be confusing to those who aren't. (On a side note, ignore any reviews that state that you should have read the book before going into the film - the movie should be self-sufficient and shouldn't rely on the viewer having read the book, which would be poor storytelling.)
This second chapter to the IT story is a decent addition, however I will admit that it does fall a little flat when compared to Chapter 1. There are some great scenes and jokes here, however part of the film's major issue is that it takes a while for things to really resolve, to the point where this really feels like someone had planned for the second chapter to be two films instead of one because of how much they try to cram into this movie. There are plot elements that are fine, but just feel a bit superfluous, like they could've been removed and the timeline tightened a bit just so it is a little less of a slog, such as the focus on the little boy seen in trailers. To be honest, most of the child deaths in this film could be mentioned rather than actually shown in order to make the film run a little less long and the story a little tighter.
The story also feels like it shot itself in the foot a little with how much they changed in the first film. In the first movie Henry Bowers is pushed down a well, making it look unlikely that he would have survived - this in turn makes his appearance in chapter 2 a little harder to swallow, as it seems far more likely that he would have died or been crippled by the fall. (In the novel and miniseries he merely got lost.) There's no explanation for him emerging unscathed and while we could probably justify it via Pennywise, that just seems a little farfetched and it would've been a lot easier if the first film had just had him get lost as well.
That said, there are definitely things to like in this movie. The acting is fantastic and the cast is exceedingly well chosen. While sure, the movie feels overly long and the Bowers stuff could've been handled a bit better, it's still an enjoyable watch. The opening scene was also very well done, as it was really effective in unsettling the viewing audience with its human on human violence as much as it was with its Pennywise on human violence. I also liked the resolution at the end with the Losers and certain revelations that come to light, as that was a nice, yet unexpected touch. I have to admit that I did kind of like how they defeated IT - it's a huge change from the book and miniseries, but there was just something about it that was kind of fun even as it was kind of ridiculous.
Ultimately I think that this will likely be a movie more for the die-hards as its length and Stephen King references and nods will likely turn some of the casuals off from the film.