Second half to a visually epic and poignant horror remake

Rating: 8/10 (10 December 2019)

"IT2" is a quite good second half to an overall monumental two part film. When I was young I watched the original IT miniseries and it deeply moved me. It wasn't so much that it was scary, but rather that the story of friendship was so rich and that's what was at the core of the film. The final scene of them on their bikes used to make me shed a tear or two. "IT Chapter 2" closely imitates the depth of friendship and too has a very moving final couple scenes. This movie is not a horror/thriller but instead a horror/drama. Perhaps even swap the two around. This is definitely a high quality horror film. I watched it in 4K and I have to say the effects are better than most if not all other horror films. The first one also had this offering. Even though "IT2" isn't really scary, it IS shocking and there are plenty of nightmarish monsters. One scene in particular where Beverly goes to her old house to find her "artifact" is in my opinion the scariest sequence in the movie and it was done very well. You can really see Muschietti's trademark horror elements and directing style here as it faintly echoes aspects of his first feature film, "Mama". The acting was up and down. For example, Bill Hader did a great job acting while James McAvoy did not... I personally feel McAvoy was the wrong choice for the role. Also, I feel Jake Gyllenhaal would have been much better as adult Eddie than James Ransone. Aside from a couple minor editing flaws and moments of bad acting, the two new IT films as a whole is a really good movie and is a horror landmark.