Great moments aside 'It Chapter Two' underwhelms as it attempts to be a sprawling horror epic

Rating: 6/10 (14 September 2019)

I couldn't help feeling underwhelmed upon exiting the theatre. I've thought about it a lot and really there just isn't a whole lot of substance to 'It Chapter 2', it just doesn't have much of a thematic soul to it and you know you are adapting King wrong when that is a complaint levied against your movie.
First off, I loved It (2017) or Chapter One. The success of that movie lies on the shoulders of it's cast of child actors who all had chemistry, motivation and distinct personalities. 'It Chapter Two's adult losers are extremely well cast. The heavy hitters Hader, Chastain, and McAvoy are all inspired choices and their talent and star power lend a lot of presence to the film. Honestly though I was more impressed with the B list members of the Loser's Club. Isaiah Mustafa is outstanding as Mike Hanlon, the only character whose depiction 'It Chapter 2' improves from the King novel. James Ransone is the spitting image of Jack Dylan Glazer who played Eddie in the first film. He has that right mix of comedy and being the fearful member of the group without going too far. Andy Bean has a small scene as the tragic adult version of Stanley Uris but it may be the best scene in the entire movie. Stanley's fate always seemed cruel and for shock value in both the King novel and the 1990 miniseries but Bean brings out the sadness and bleakness of it. The juxtaposition of the adult Stanley and the young Wyatt Oleff flashing back and forth while being underscored with the beautiful music by Benjamin Wallfisch is genuinely heartbreaking. It's kind of a shame the moment is revisited in an awkward ending.
Sounds like a rave so far huh? Well the individual performances are great. The adult losers have no chemistry whatsoever. The scenes where they are together just never click. I mean sure you can get caught up in the action during the scenes of peril but when they are reminiscing and laughing it just falls flat. Notice that I didn't mention the adult Ben played by Jay Ryan when I was handing out praise. He is a pretty big weak link in the chain. I don't know if the character is written poorly or Ryan is just going for easy choices but the entirety of Ben in this film is his not so subtle crush on Beverly. This is supposed to be a big emotional pay off and Ryan just over does it.
A lot is being made about the run time. Honestly for a movie that long I felt that it was kind of half baked. No time is spent exploring the town and it's culture and how Pennywise hovers over anything. You need that and the first film did it so well. The clown himself disappears for some very long stretches. The film is padded with flashbacks to the kids. I don't mind this but they don't really interconnect with the adult narrative. The kid flashbacks just sort of pad the story from the first film. I'm sure if you've read up on the movie you know about the CGI removal of puberty from the 2017 cast... it's distracting and highly noticeable.
The musical score is great, the cast shines on an individual level, and try as I might I can't bring myself to condemn a three hour horror epic. This is probably the most intense horror film in size and scope you are ever going to see. Personally I'd like to see more horror films with this broad a canvas and so I want 'It Chapter Two' to succeed despite my problems with it. It (2017) was great and I walked out dying to see the adult saga and so maybe I'm having the 'Game of Thrones' finale syndrome where the movie I had in my head was better.
It's serviceable.