Almost perfect sequel

Rating: 9/10 (7 September 2019)

IT Chapter 2...
Picking up straight from the end of Chapter One, Ch.2 almost seamlessly continues the story - in one viewing, there won't be any noticeable difference in terms of the actor's ages for the child versions of the characters (which sometimes happens with sequels a few years apart). The casting of the adult version of the losers is flawless - Bill Hader's take on Richie Tozier and James Ransom's Eddie Kasparak being the stand out performances (in fact, the weakest is probably James McAvoy's Bill, but thats still a brilliant performance).
Where the film works best is in the mix of humour and horror - it retains an humanity that some modern horror loses in return for an almost sadistic voyerism of the gore rather than have us empathise with the victims / heroes (or even, turn the monster into an anti-hero). Here, the Losers are flawed, 'normal' people, driven to do and witness things no-one should.
If anything, the part of Henry Bowers feels almost unnecessary - a side story that's not given enough time to grow as such and to be honest, the movie wouldn't have suffered from him being left on the cutting room floor.
When the first movie came out, the comparison between the previous Pennywise - Tim Curry, and this version, Bill Skarsgaard was the topic of a lot of heated debate - with this concluding chapter, Bill has made the role 'his' forever - sad when it needs to be, horrific and monstrous otherwise, yet the viewer never feels sympathy for him, nor should they.
A solid 9/10 - a perfect sequel!