It's Alright

Rating: 6/10 (26 May 2020)

Living up to It (2017) is a difficult task to do, but I really can't fault the creators for It Chapter Two not being as good as the first. It Chapter Two tries too hard to be as good as the first that it copies everything about the first. The camera tricks and chase scenes are literally a copy and paste. They should have done some new things to make It Chapter Two feel more like a sequel and not a remake. The best sequels of all time added something new, like Aliens and Terminator 2: Judgement Day.
The plot brings back all of the characters, except for Stanley. The plot contains a lot of subplots; a little too much in fact. I'm surprised that they were able to make It Chapter Two 2h 50min, which sounds long, but there was a lot to unravel in this new plot. What It Chapter Two suffers from is the choppy pacing. Luckily, the pacing wasn't too choppy enough to make the film lose it's intensity.
What I disliked the most was the characters. None of the new versions of the Loser's Club were likable, except for Mike. It Chapter Two focuses a lot on the characters' quests rather than the actual characters. They gave a bunch of exposition about the Losers after beating Pennywise when they were younger, but little exposition about their new current lives. Because of the lack of exposition given to the current losers, they weren't even comparable to their younger versions from the original. Also, the acting was way worse for some reason. These new actors are adult professionals, but they gave worse performances than their younger counterparts. I hated Bill Hader's performance of Richie, he made Richie seem like a jerk who cracks stupid jokes all the time. Finn Wolfhard did a way better job with the character, he made Richie goofy and likable.
The good part was the use of CGI. The CGI created a lot of cool imagery that seemed like illusions. Because of the CGI, it really made It Chapter Two feel like an It movie. There was a little too much CGI being used to create the monsters, but I guess it's just personal preference whether you like it or not. But for some reason, the scenes that were supposed to be intense, didn't really feel that intense.
I really liked It (2017), but It Chapter Two really failed on almost every level. None of the characters were likable; almost unlikable. There was too much subplots, even though it was necessary for the story. Because of all of the subplots, there was little exposition given to the new versions of the characters. It Chapter Two also suffers from a subpar screenplay and terrible acting. It Chapter Two isn't a bad movie, but it's really disappointing.