It could have been better

Rating: 6/10 (9 September 2019)

I wish this movie was better. It wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great either. There are pros and cons to every movie, and in the case of It: Chapter two, the cons are more prevalent, yet they don't necessarily outweigh the pros. It's a strange phenomenon that results in an okay, messy movie.
So, the cons. Something that unfortunately continues from the first one are the clanging jump scares. There are way too many of them, and they would be scarier without the super loud ramping music and the clanging sound effect. There were way too many Dutch angles and it got distracting after a while. You definitely felt the length of it, but it didn't exactly overstay its welcome. It certainly felt like a 2 hour 50 minute movie, but it was entertaining enough to hold attention. The movie felt pretty messy, and honestly, didn't have much actual plot. This was especially true in the middle where it was 90% scare sequences while the Losers found their tokens. The middle should have been where they each found motivation to face Pennywise again, and the things they remember when finding their tokens were supposed to convey that, but it just felt like they jumped on board defeating Pennywise.
More on the actual story elements, the whole element where they have to remember everything wasn't executed that well. About halfway through the film, it didn't really matter anymore but it also didn't come across that they remembered all they needed to. Plus, 90% of what they needed to remember, we've already seen in the first one. The love triangle between Bill, Bev, and Ben really wasn't earned and it didn't feel any more developed than in the first one. They had the same realization and emotional beats as the first movie. Plus, it was all Ben really had to do in the movie. He could have been the one to kill Henry Bowers so his arc was more about him finally overcoming his childhood trauma by defeating his bully. Honestly, all their arcs should have been about overcoming their specific childhood trauma. The only ones who really had complete arcs were Bill and Eddie. It would've been interesting to see a contrast between them as kids dealing with Pennywise and them dealing with it as adults, with maybe some fake out scare sequences where it's not actually Pennywise scaring them but it's their own paranoia and inability to know what's real making them feel like maybe it's not real. That would be an interesting obstacle.
On the other hand, the pros. The transitions between the scenes were absolutely creative and had some great cinematography and special effects. There were some pretty interesting and new horror sequences and imagery, like the drowning sequence at the beginning seeing Pennywise while bobbing in the water, or Pennywise looking like a carnie Bill Skarsgard in Bev's old apartment. In the middle third, there were a bit too many long horror sequences in a row and gave a messy feel. I really enjoyed Bill's arc with him realizing it wasn't actually his fault that Georgie died, though his whole arc with the other kid in Derry dying at the fair felt removed from the rest of the plot. Eddie's arc becoming less scared and believing he could be strong and defeat Pennywise was also really great. It's unfortunate everyone else didn't really have an arc. Despite the CG on some of the kids and the pitching up of their voices (which is pretty weird for them to do), the flashbacks with the younger kids were all enjoyable and added a nice nostalgic feeling. The casting for the adult versions of the characters was great and everyone really felt like the characters from the first one all grown up.
I didn't hate this movie. I just wish it was better. It could have been more streamline and better executed, with more thought put into the actual plot and character arcs than just the scares, but most of the horror was done well, and everyone's performances were great.