Ambitious sequel to a masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (8 September 2019)

I was blown away by the first movie. Still have it as one of my favourite horrors.
Naturally I was excited for this one. Disappointed I was not, but it just doesn't peak like the first part. For a nearly 3 hour movie, it felt well paced, with the various transitions, and I didn't feel exhausted or bored from watching it. The transitions between the present and past is genius, especially with a cast that really resemble their younger selves. The character developments and arch's end up really satisfying, and they really get you connected to them all. The way the story is told, is mesmerising, engaging but... It won't keep you on the edge!
I found the ambient and atmosphere of this one, feeling like a drama. Where the first movie was full of surprises, with a gloomy atmosphere and a constant intensity. This movie is more relaxed, and as mentioned, feels like an HBO drama at times. The comic relief is really good, but it is way too overdone. They spent a lot of minutes to build up scary and hard hitting scenes, to ruin it with a funny but unnecessary one liner. This is a huge thing, because it feels like the build-up is wasted on a clever remark, instead of a hard hitting sense of fear, anger or drama. Huge potential loss. Hereby it relies on predictable jump scares, instead of the dark and horrific atmosphere from the first movie.
Overall, I found the movie good, but not great as expected after the first one. The connection to the first movie was good, there were great details and Easter eggs. Characters and the cast are amazing, the creatures are terrifying and the story telling is great. But I would call it a thriller, not a horror. Good movie nonetheless, but really tends to lean towards drama feel.