Better than expected

Rating: 8/10 (6 September 2019)

Hiya Georgie
It Chapter 2 is the thrilling conclusion to Stephen King's classic clown novel which finds the losers club needing to go back to Derry after 27 years cause they did not kill Pennywise like they thought they did.
And first off let's just say that Pennywise has been a terrific villain through all this. Yes, clowns remind us all of serial killers anyway, there's not much Krusty can do about that, but if you also get one who knows your fears there really is no stoppage to the torments one could inflict.
Bill Skarsgard has really dug in here, he's having fun, and i'm loving how over the top he allows the voice and mannerisms to get.
The losers club comes back, this time as adults, in fine form.
Sure guys like James McAvoy, who carries Bill's guilt over the loss of his brother Georgie perfectly, and Bill Hader, whose the wise-ass Richie of the group, stand out but everyone here is allowed their moment.
And there are a lot of moments here. This is a lot of movie. Sometimes it's going for horror, sometimes it's comic, sometimes it's a coming of age drama, and in the case of the friend-zoned Ben and the only girl of the group, Beverly, there's a rootable romance here too.
One of the criticisms that has been labeled against this is that it's not a scare on top of scare style movie but I think that's cause this movie is smarter and way more ambitious than that.
This is a follow-up to the highest grossing horror flick of all time-why not going huge with it?
The losers club themselves are still a great bunch of guys and lady and it'a a huge laugh seeing them pick up right where they left off- ribbing each other, bringing up old memories, regretting the fact that as life often goes, we do lose contact with even close friends.
You also never see anyone of them with a cup of coffee- they're so high strung just by living in Derry that even tossing a red bull in the middle of them might result in explosion.
Director Andy Muschietti throws in even more creatures this time around- heads walking on spiders legs, decomposing bodies, statues, things just come alive with big booming voices.
Muscietti worked pretty well with these overgrown, gangly looking monsters in his first horror flick, Mama, but he has vastly improved the facial distortions, the creatures entrances, nearly every jump scare is part of a grander scene that just looks like nightmare fuel.
Like that scene with the old lady from the trailer is 10 times more creepy in this movie and is just a masterclass of suspense.
Yes at nearly 3 hours all of this can feel relentless but he moves these horrifying creatures around like a chessmaster and my heart pumped and my jaw dropped and that's no small feat.
I was also someaht worried about the ending here- mostly cause part 2 of the miniseries ends with kind of dud oh, they look like they're fighting something from Honey I Shrunk the Kids.
But Muscietti proves to completely understand psychological torment by movie's end and continuing to incorporate that in the final showdown is a smart move.
Story-wise this also does a hell of a lot- adding in a Native American subplot, telekinesis, tokens, and some really brutal acts of homophobia and spousal abuse that ties in later with a message about bullying.
I'm out of breath just trying to explain all this movie tries to do, so while it's not always scary and is definitely long winded,
It wants to be a lot of things, most surprising of all is it makes you want to call up a close friend you haven't spoken to in a while..if you have one. That shows this isn't just about the scares but about the characters too. On both counts I was more than satisfied.
If you liked this check out Craig James Review on Youtube for more