It: Chapter 2 Review

Rating: 6/10 (8 September 2019)

It: Chapter 2 is one of if not the most entertaining film I have seen this year. There are so many laugh out loud moments in this film and that's both good and bad. Compared to the 2017 film, Chapter 2 is not great on a technical level but it's far superior on an entertainment level. Here are the negatives. The film does overstay its welcome. The runtime is 2 hours and 45 minutes long and you definitely start to feel that.There are certain elements that could have been removed from the film and it would have been better. The ending of the film is not that good either. It does a rapid tone shift after the climax which just feels off putting to what we just encountered. The visual effects are pretty bad. There are many different forms of It shown through the film and they all look pretty fake. It gets distracting when the form of It in the climax looks fake which causes that scene to lose any tension that was built up. My final issue is that the film once again decides to rely much more heavily on jump scares than actual concepts. The 2017 film had scary moments that were built up and didn't come off as jumpscares but every attempt at being scary in this film was a jumpscare. Here are the positives. I feel that this film is an example of perfect casting. Each adult actor mirrors their child counterpart almost perfectly. Their acting is really good also. Bill Skarsgard, James McAvoy, and especially Bill Hader are standouts from the film. Bill Hader steals every scene he is in. He's incredibly funny and is the best part of this film. The film is incredibly funny. There are many jokes or sequences in the film that are just drop dead hilarious. I feel that some of the funny scenes were intentional while others were not but I will give director Andy Muschietti props for making this film semi self aware. There a bunch of really cool and unique transition shots and the cinematography was pretty good. Overall, It: Chapter 2 may not be as scary as the 2017 film but it's vastly more entertaining thanks to a likeable cast and hilarious sequences. I give It: Chapter 2 a 7/10.