Welcome Back To Derry

Rating: 6/10 (16 September 2019)

It's strange to say that the dramatic parts of a horror film landed better than the horror parts, but that's It: Chapter Two's biggest issue - the horror just isn't scary. They sure think the horror scenes are scary. They come fast and furious with a ton of aggressive sound effects and CGI, desperately trying to prove to us that they're scary, but they're not.
This film opens with a hate crime against a gay couple that strikes the wrong note right off the bat. This scene actually is brutal and scary, because it's one of the few scenes that isn't loaded to the brim with computer effects and it feels like something that would really happen in a messed up town like Derry. Even when Pennywise the clown shows up towards the end of that scene, most of his effects at least appear practical.
Starting off like this gave me false hope that, maybe, this film would be stronger and scarier than the first. The next 30 minutes are equally strong with the audience catching up with the Loser's Club in present day. The transitions between each character's new life are beautifully handled and incredibly cinematic.
Once everyone gathers back in Derry, it becomes a slightly dull series of predictable funhouse horror scenes as each character must return to a place of trauma before meeting back up to fight Pennywise. Blessedly, the final showdown, while drenched with the CGI I've spent so much time complaining about, is stronger than the finales of either the novel or the original TV miniseries.
It Chapter Two is the very definition of a mixed bag. There's a lot to love, a lot to shrug at, and a lot to hate, but it manages to be entertaining enough and frequently moving enough to look past a lot of the film's flaws.