A Long, Underwhelming, Gory Mess

Rating: 4/10 (26 September 2019)

It: Chapter Two disappoints in continuing the engrossing story of Pennywise the Clown terrorizing the town of Derry. Being just under a lengthy three hours, the film packs a fair amount of unnecessary and boring sequences. It relies too heavily on visuals, rather than building a real sense of foreboding and suspense. There are many scenes where it feels more like a dark comedy, rather than a film that is supposed to frighten viewers. There are some memorable moments, but unfortunately, the bad outweighs the good in the end.
The film offers an excellent cast, very much resembling the younger Losers. You can easily see who is who right from the beginning. These actors were able to deliver the liveliness and humor of their younger selves, which worked very well. This may be one of Bill Haders best performances. The young versions of the Losers also make an appearance in the film. They too deliver a solid performance, much like they did in the first chapter.
One of my biggest problems with this movie was the overuse of CGI, and the expected jump scare in every other scene. It was too predictable, and did not deliver one truly horrifying scene. You see Pennywise in many different forms, but not one of them is as frightening as the clown form. With that being said, Bill Skarsgård was underutilized. His natural ability to portray Pennywise was overshadowed by giant screaming CGI dummies with bobbling heads.
There's an ongoing joke throughout the film that foreshadows the insipid ending. This is likely referring to Stephen King himself, as he has been known to make monotonous endings to overall adequate stories. This happens to be one of those stories. Rather than altering the ending, they make fun of it, which just comes off as lazy. Perhaps they were trying to play it safe, but it failed nonetheless. What brings Pennywise to his knees in the end is utterly disappointing, and quite pathetic. Fans deserved a better ending. Sorry, Stephen.
If you're looking for a well written and scary sequel to follow the first chapter of It, you will be let down. Though there are some fun and enjoyable moments thanks to the talented cast, it does not make up for the inconsistencies and lazy story telling. The shockingly horrifying and successful triumph that was It: Chapter One should have had a better second half.