Decent, Not as Good as the First

Rating: 6/10 (29 January 2020)

It's widely agreed upon that no matter what version, the first half of It is better than the second. It's been 27 years since the Loser's Club defeated Pennywise, and everyone's favorite demon clown has returned for more. The kids, now adults in their 40s, get back together to defeat the monster one more time. However, they've all lost their memory, except for Mike, and most of the movie is spent on them going through Derry trying to regain them by collecting items from their pasts. It's not bad content, per se, it just feels like filler and takes way too long. The movie's runtime is 2 hours, 44 minutes. That's excessive for a movie like this.
However, it's balanced out by absolutely fantastic performances. Bill Skarsgard returns as Pennywise, and he's perfect. He doesn't talk as much this time around, but he nails all the gestures and mannerisms of being a creepy clown. He's just as good as last time. The other person who garnered a lot of attention is Bill Hader as Richie. Deservedly so, as he does exactly what he should, act like grown-up Richie. The rest of the adults, including Jessica Chastain as Beverly and James McAvoy as Bill, also do their part, and we do see the kids we knew all grown up. Since we get this microcosm of their lives, there's a lot of emotion put into it with how they cope with their memories and facing their fears through a completely different, more grown up lens.
There's still more to dislike, unfortunately. The scares were way too predictable. After the first few, you can easily do a "3, 2, 1, jumpscare" countdown in your head. Plus, there are way too many jumpscares. Henry didn't need to be in this at all. I know he's important in the book, but hey, Lord of the Rings worked without Tom Bombadil, so this could work without Henry. All he does it eat up runtime. All in all, It: Chapter 2 doesn't come near the heights of the first movie, but it wasn't expected to. It's a decent film, but it's not going to be one of the most remembered horror movies of all time like the first one.
By the way, there is reportedly interest in making a cut of It that intertwines scenes from both movies into one massive, 5-hour movie. That would be awesome.