An amazing piece of the big picture

Rating: 9/10 (6 September 2019)

First of all, don't expect a "horror" movie. King's best attribute when telling a story is how amazing human beings can be and how powerful the mind and heart are. And Andy has this on full display in this second part of his screen adaptation.
If you have never read or even listened to an audio book of "IT", you're doing yourself a disservice. There are so many elements to the story that could easily make another 2-3 movies after this sequel. From the history of Derry, to the origins of IT, and even the macro-verse, so much is left out of the movies to simply tell the best version of the story.
The book is all over the place. There is no chronology as it mirrors each confrontation the losers have with IT back and forth from adulthood to childhood. In between these events we get sprinkles of deep character development, history, and cosmic spirituality.
This movie took the best, most screen adaptable parts and allowed us to follow the adult trials of the losers. Less time was spent on Audra (Bill's wife) and the night Bev and Bill spent together in the novel was simply a kiss in the movie. You could see the effect the "love triangle" had on Ben and how strong a person he really was by never allowing the others to know in order to maintain the bonds they had.
Over all, this telling of the story itself is light years ahead of the beloved mini series most of us watched. It focuses directly on the 7 and pennywise: the way he impacted their lives directly and indirectly, the love they have for each other, and how powerful connections with others and the mind can be when focused on a collective goal.
The CGI was better than the previous movie, but still not great. That is the only reason I gave a 9.