Worth the time and the money!

Rating: 9/10 (13 September 2019)

I was really looking forward to this one, especially after the fantastic 1st part, which totally nailed the story on so many levels - the faithfulness of the story, the scares and the actors.
And then the first reviews came out for this one, I got scared: almost everywhere it was only called as average at best. Still, today I went to see it, and l was happy to do so.
I think, many people just view this story as a simple horror story. However, in my opinion, that's a big misunderstanding as the story of IT - as a whole - is not a horror. Not at all. It is a drama with horror elements. The book itself is one of the most important one of my library. Though, only having read the book twice in my life, it played both time a crucial part of that period; the first time as 18-19 years old - before heading to College and the 2nd one being around 26-27 years old. Because what this story is about? We all remember how we told each other in primary/secondary schools, that with those friends how we would stay always in contact, how our friendship would stand the test of time. Then you move on, and realize that how quickly you forgot those friends. As 18-19 year old, having read this part of the book and seeing how such strong connect can break up easily, it upset me, made me question a lot of things. As 26-27-year-old, I understood better, I saw other parts of the story relevant. Started to understand that its the part of the normal life, that people - who you call friends, and cannot imagine your everyday's life without them - just vanish, but still can be brought back when needed or called upon - you don't need serial killers to do that, it's completely fine, when other reasons lie behind them.
I agree with those, who say this film should be seen as a whole (part 1 + 2) and not a typical "longer, better, scarier" type of movie. For me this was a really, really good movie, where I have seen some brilliant acting, and seeing people learning to face their fears of their childhood - which they thought they burried, but was always a part of their life.
As negatives, I do agree, that the movie tends to drag at times, and some parts I found unneccesary or - due to the lack of time (when the film was also long enough) didn't get enough explaining, therefore their appearances being meaningless. Here I talk about Henry Bowers and the Silver; both got their screen time, but would have nothing happened had they had been cut from the movie. They just arrived and the movie quickly wraped up their part.
Some reviews critised the humour of the film. I didn't find it distracting, as I have seen the movie more as a drama than a horror, I didn't feel that out-of-place. I mean, okay, they weren't highly sophisticated jokes, but, easily could have been much worse.
All in all, I really do not regret seeing this movie.