Great experience-like how movies used to be

Rating: 8/10 (9 September 2019)

As a kid in the 80s, this is what I remember movies being like-a fully immersive experience, not a CGI Spectacular or a bunch of self-indulgent performances. Much like the recent It movie, this new series is reminiscent of Goonies, Stand by Me, and other classics featuring a team of kids on a dangerous mission.
It 2 does not feel like a 3-hour film, but maybe that's because I was dreading the length and then was pleasantly surprised. There was a lot to cover and it really packs a lot of story in there, so it's not 3 hours of cinematic show-offery, it's real, faceted, story-moving, character-building meat.
Some of the random zombie stuff and over the top gross-out junk was almost a nod to Dead Alive (1992) or Poltergeist (1982), which was good for a laugh I suppose, but just seemed sloppy to me for some reason.
I had a really good time this afternoon watching this film in a theater-as a matter of fact I saw it at (no joke) the Capital theater in my New England town, which looks a lot like Derry and the theater sign, marquee, and location are eerily similar, as well as the name being identical! Ha. Cool.