Disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (11 September 2019)

I had such high hopes and went in wanting to love this so much, however I found myself disappointed at almost every turn. It seems to me like small things that worked fantastically in chapter 1 got milked dry in chapter 2. For example, random swears & jokes coming from Eddie & Richie, these were absolutely fantastic in chapter 1 and, although many are still funny in 2, they pale in comparison to 1. Also, the use of what I'll call 'surprise big tall grey monster running at you' that was so fantastic with the evil painting woman in chapter 1 seems like it's the only use for jump scares in chapter 2, everything is a big tall grey thing that runs at the characters with exaggerated foley on footfall that stops being scary the second time it's used, and it's used a lot.
The chemistry between the adult losers is far from bad, but with constant flashbacks showing the same characters with the younger cast the chemistry feels so clunky and forced in comparison. I found myself really not caring about any of the characters or what happened to them despite loving the kids in chapter 1.
Overuse of CGI for the monsters let's the film down also (SPOILERS) that Bev with her head on fire what on earth was that????? (END OF SPOILERS).
I certainly wouldn't call it a bad film, it had a lot to live up to and it didn't surpass my albeit high expectations.