IT: Chapter Two - Movie Review

Rating: 8/10 (6 January 2020)

The first IT came out of nowhere in 2017 and shocked me. It was scary, whilst also being funny, and the adventure the kids had to go on was riveting. Do I think that Chapter Two is as good as the first one? No, I don't. But I also think it's fairly underrated.
Most critics have labelled IT: Chapter Two as one of the most disappointing films of the year, and it's just not that for me. I actually think that this film is scarier than the first, and that's the most important aspect for a horror film to be successful.
The acting is also incredible, and I have to praise whoever chose these particular talents to portray the grown-up versions of the kids we had come to know and love. The standouts for me are Bill Hader as Richie and Jessica Chastain as Beverly, but everyone does an excellent job and they are the main reason that this film is as good as it ends up being.
The second act is clearly the worst out of the three. It's dragged out and very repetitive, but still has some good scares. If they had trimmed out 10 - 15 minutes from this portion of the film, it might have ended up on the same level as the first for me.
Alas, IT: Chapter Two is still a great film with some horrifying imagery and a heart-pounding score, and contains one of the best third acts I saw in 2019.
SCORE: 83%