A Bloated Mess

Rating: 3/10 (23 January 2020)

It Chapter 1 was a 5 out of 10 film and that film shares the same problem as the second chapter. They are not scary. This chapter however manages to be something even worse. The second chapter could have really built upon the lack of tension and scares but this seems to want to be a comedy. The grown up cast are ok but the flashbacks that were done via de-aging is so obvious and really off putting.
The film is also way too long. It is so bloated where you are given scene after scene of characters being chased by something. There is absolutely no fear element here what so ever!! I found myself laughing where Mrs Kersh chases Beverly. This was promoted in the trailer as a suspenful scene but comes off as probably the funniest scene in the movie.
The film is just so badly paced compared to other Stephen King films at 3 hours. The Director's Cut of Doctor Sleep and The Green Mile both clock in at 180 minutes and they are both hugely satisfying. Again just like the first movie, Pennywise is just not menacing. Everytime the clown is about to kill someone the scence cuts to CGI teeth or a CGI face.
The fact remains that Cary Fukanaga's version would have been so disturbing and utterly scary if only Warner Bros. had the balls to go through with it. The concept art for Pennywise alone is more scary then Bill Skarsgard's performance!!
Instead they opted for a Director whose only film before IT was Mama that equally as forgettable. Yet another example of how not to do horror.