IT chapter 2

Rating: 6/10 (15 September 2019)

IT chapter 2
2019
15
director: Andy muschietti
starring: James Macavoy,Jessica Chastain,Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd,Bill Hader,Isaiah Mustafa,Jay Ryan,James Ransone,Andy Bean,Teach Grant etc
overall rating 62/100
for 27 years the losers club have found new lives outside of Derry. But when Pennywise returns the gang must stay true to there blood oath to each other and try to defeat pennywise once and for all. It chapter 2 was unfortunately a big disappointment for me it had its good moments for sure but i was left feeling underwhelmed lets talk about this.
But first lets start off with some positives. The film had a much more tense tone,was more scary and had better executed jumpscares. This film did a better job at keeping you at the edge of your seat and executing many more jumpscares. This was due to pennywise and more monsters being involved so therefore there was more time to fit jumpscares and more scenes to drag out so you cant expect when the scare is going to happen. And in general i think the film was much more scary then the first. They went pure horror for this film and this part worked there was a lot more scary situations and creatures and pennywise was 100% more ruthless and scary then the first IT.
Adding on from the previous point about pennywise ( Bill Skarsgard) the film was a lot more gory. I loved this as it left more of a impact with a lot more scenes. To see the more ruthless and aggressive side to pennywise was done well here as it made him more feared as a character as he was fairly tame in the first film compared to this so i am glad they went all out for this. As it genuinely shocked me with the amount of people he killed.
However i know have to say that the film had very slow pacing in places. Unlike previous 3 hour films like avengers endgame which had enough plot to justify its run time IT chapter 2 did not. The film felt like 3 hours and really dragged in places. There was at least 30-45 minutes that could of been cut from the film to make it more of a well put together film. I just feel like they deliberately dragged scenes out that didn't need to in order to make the film as long as possible.
Next i think the film had much darker themes and had good LGBT representation. Now the film tackled homophobia in the most brutal but most appropriate way. Seeing how horribly they were treated is the harsh reality of what still happens in todays society which is really sad so i am glad they raised awareness of this. And also having children being eaten was a lot more shocking to see due to there innocence and film tackled sexuality and abuse very well as well.
Next i have to say that some of the use of flashbacks were badly done. I think the use of flashbacks was overused slightly leading to the pacing and narrative being slightly clunky. And the de aging on some of the kids looked terrible. Obviously its been 2 years since the first film and the actors probably look a lot different, But you could really tell especially with younger Ritchie that there face had been heavily edited and for me it was very distracting.
Next i thought the film had really creative set pieces and mise en scene but also good character arcs for the older versions of the losers club. Due to the films budget being double what the first one was they really went more creative with there set pieces and designs and got really creative with baloons and incorporated clowns into things you wouldn't think they would so props for creativity for sure. And also i loved how they took the time to explain the characters older counterparts and where they ended up and giving them good character arcs. The film went into good enough detail about what all of the losers have been doing the 27 years apart and all of there characters got good amount of screentime to explain there story through some good uses of flashbacks.
Next the film had a good amount of emotional weight and the acting from Bill SkarsgÃ¥rd was just fantastic. The film tackled mental health really well and to see stanley take his own life was admittedly difficult to watch. And to see Beverly in the same kind of abusive household was also upsetting to see. But the best part of the film would definitely be when Eddie sacrificed himself for Richie. There had been a teased romance between them both for a large majority of the film especially from Richies side. So to see Eddie sacrifice himself when he had previously been to scared to save anyone was a truly powerful and emotional part of the film. And next Bill skarsgÃ¥rd as expected was absolutely fantastic throughout the whole film. The fact that someone can pull off and execute such a disturbing and unsettling performance like he does is truly remarkable and he really should be rewarded with this kind of demanding role.
However i have to say the film was very confusing when it came to explain pennywises origin and backstory and also Henry Bowers was a terrible character. The film never went into enough detail about how pennywise came to be which was a massive shame so when it came to the actual ritual to try and defeat pennywise first of all i didn't know what was going on and second it didn't even work so it was a completely pointless build up to the final act. Next Henry Bowers was a terrible character. He went to prison and clearly went insane but when he escaped he just tried to kill all the losers for no apparant reason apart from a past grudge i think they just wasted his character.
Now for my final two positives first the film was absolutely hilarious. All the actors had great comedic chemistry with each other but i would have to say that Bill hader was absolutely hilarious. His one liners were hilarious the jokes he pulled on the other characters were brilliant, and he always found a way to find a situation funny. And next the overall cast for the older characters was literally perfect. Every single actor had the same characteristics and mannerisms as the younger versions they all even looked like them. And the best part was they all had the same chemistry as the kids had so this definitely kept the film going for sure.
However now for my final two negatives. I thought the film got very repetitive. They used mostly the same fears for all of the adult versions and the film just repeated itself the characters all went to a place from when they were kids had a flashback and then found there token this happened so many times it just all was the same. The film was just to similar to the first one which was a big shame as they had the potential to do something different as we saw with the fairground which was great. And finally the ending was terrible. Everything just got to ridiculous at the end. Pennywise turned into a giant spider which was a stupid idea and the way they killed him was just underwhelming and made him seem easily beatable. This was a really big shame as it left me feeling worse about the film as a whole.
Overall It chapter 2 is just about held together by its cast,acting,humour and set locations. But largely is a big disappointment and is far worse then the 1st film. They went for style over substance which further proves bigger is sometimes not better.