Movie: It: Chapter Two
Release: 2019
Written By: Stephen King, Gary Dauberman
Directed By: Andy Muschietti
Starring: Bill Skarsgård, Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Isaiah Mustafa, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Andy Bean, Sophia Lillis, Jaeden Martell, Finn Wolfhard, Chosen Jacobs, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Jack Dylan Grazer, Wyatt Oleff
Genre: Drama / Fantasy / Horror
Language: English
Runtime: 2h 49m
Overall Rating: ★★★★ (4.0)
Synopsis:
”Defeated by members of the Losers' Club, the evil clown Pennywise returns 27 years later to terrorize the town of Derry, Maine, once again. Now adults, the childhood friends have long since gone their separate ways. But when people start disappearing, Mike Hanlon calls the others home for one final stand. Damaged by scars from the past, the united Losers must conquer their deepest fears to destroy the shape-shifting Pennywise -- now more powerful than ever.” - IMDb
Review
I saw this movie by myself tonight and to be honest, I am really glad I did!
Before I go too far into things, I do want to quickly mention two trigger warnings for the film which occur relatively early on (one of which is in the first 5-10 minutes). There is an assault of a gay couple, one of whom gets murdered and there is also a suicide scene as well. I was surprised as I saw on instagram a couple of posts mentioning the LGBTQ+ trigger warning but not the suicide one, but I thought I should mention both. Both are relatively graphic, depending on your definition but just be weary going in.
The following does contain a couple of spoilers from the 2017 It but I assume if you are going to watch this film, you have seen the first.
IT Chapter 2 follows on 27 years after the ending of the first film and follows The Losers, Bill (James McAvoy & Jaeden Martell), Beverly (Jessica Chastain & Sophia Lillis), Richie (Bill Hader & Finn Wolfhard), Mike (Isaiah Mustafa & Chosen Jacobs), Ben (Jay Ryan & Jeremy Ray Taylor), Eddie (James Ransone & Jack Dylan Grazer) and Stanley (Andy Bean & Wyatt Oleff) as they return to their hometown of Derry, Maine in an attempt to defeat Pennywise the Clown as the cycle they discovered in the first film repeats itself again after almost 30 years. They have each lost touch with each other but when Mike reaches out to them one by one, they each understand what the phone call is for and respond with almost as much fear as they had as kids - becoming speechless, vomiting, one of them even crashing their car, but mostly accepting what they must do next.
The one thing I really appreciated with this film was how flawlessly it moved between 1988 and 2015, both in terms of cinematography and set, but the actual character/actor from when they were kids to them being adults and vice versa. In the beginning of the film you get a glimpse of what their lives are like now and it makes them seem like they are completely different people, but as soon as they are in Derry, it is like nothing has changed at all. I think the actors did a great job with this as well especially in terms of character development.
I speak mainly with Bill and Eddie as they are the ones that touched me the most, that made me have the most emotional response (yes i almost cried a couple of times). Bill having to deal with the guilt over first the disappearance then the death of his little brother Georgie, and Eddie having to deal with his fear and feeling as though this fear and his almost cowardice is letting his friends down and putting his friends in danger (as if they weren’t already). Them having to overcome this were two really pivotal moments in the film (at least for me) and I think James McAvoy and James Ransone especially did an exceptional job.
In terms of scariness (it is a horror after all) I would give it probably a 3/5. In saying that, my tolerance is pretty high. There were a few good jump scares but it wasn’t overly scary. I was much more impressed with the creativeness of the monsters/hallucinations ect that were in the film as opposed to how scary they were. The lady in the apartment though made me very uncomfortable though. Please let me know if you share that opinion! When you watch the film you will know exactly who I am referring to.
After watching the movie I am thinking about reading the book (well listening to the audiobook) to see how much it differs.
All in all, it was a really good film, and I am really glad I got to see it on the big screen. If you can, definitely go see it at the movies - i think it will make a much better experience! If you have seen it, let me know what you think!
If you have any other movies you want to hear my thoughts on, let me know - I am going to try and have a new review up weekly!
Thanks for reading,
Your Local Horror Queen xo
Thanks for reading,
Your Local Horror Queen xo
P.S. If you have any tips on how I can improve my reviews, please let me know – I am open to suggestions!