IT Chapter Two (2019)

Review

169min

Genre:       Horror, Thriller

Director:    Andy Muschietti

Cast:         Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy, Bill Skarsgård…and more

Writers:     Gary Dauberman and Stephen King

-Synopsis-

Twenty-seven years after escaping the claws of a murderous clown-like demon, tragedy and a fateful call reunites the ‘Losers Club’ in Derry to take a final stand against a resurgent Pennywise and his child-killing exploits, as deep fears are awoken and terror revisited in this sequel to the 2017 adaptation of the terrifying Stephen King novel.

Two years after he adapted the first part of horror master Stephen King’s terrifying 1986 novel, both scaring and delighting global audiences to the tune of $700million, Argentinean director Andy Muschietti rounds up two generations of ‘Losers’ and returns with deep pockets to complete the circle—rounding off an epic yet personal tale of memory and friendship, childhood trauma and adult consequences . . . and facing fear head on.

Isaiah Mustafa stars at forty-something ‘Mike Hanlon’, who calls in a promise made twenty-seven years earlier when tragedy and terror return to the town of Derry, as he gathers his fellow Losers ‘Beverly’ (Jessica Chastain), ‘Bill’ (James McAvoy), ‘Richie’ (Bill Hader), ‘Ben’ (Jay Ryan), ‘Eddie’ (James Ransone) and ‘Stanley’ (Andy Bean) in their small Maine town to face the resurgent and manipulative ‘Pennywise’ (Bill Skarsgård). And they will need to confront more than just the killer clown in all his terrifying forms, but also their own deepest fears and forgotten childhoods, as they band together to try and save the world and themselves from a dark subversive force.

As a story about childhood trauma and its lingering effects throughout life, ‘IT Chapter Two’ reunites us with the members of the Losers Club twenty-seven years on, having gone their separate ways and built successful new lives which correspond to the individual personas we’ve come to know, almost forgetting their collective Derry nightmare—but for the deep black hole in their subconscious, and a chill in the spine when they get a fateful call.

Yet when the only remaining Derry resident brings this reluctant group back to finish the job, the film becomes just as much about the past as the present, as Muschietti and screenwriter Gary Dauberman make full use of the film’s near three hour runtime to make the teenage losers almost as much a part of the sequel as their adult counterparts, developing their backstories beyond the first movie and linking the two generations through the lingering fear and trauma they must face and relive. All of which makes ‘IT Chapter Two’ in some ways a closer adaptation of the Stephen King novel than the second part of the 1990 mini-series was . . . and yet in other ways it does make some major narrative departures.

‘IT Chapter Two’ doesn’t just however delve deeper into the Losers’ stories, their childhoods and that fateful summer, but it also gets up close and personal with Pennywise and his own grand cosmic origins. But given how this fearsome and powerful shapeshifter is ultimately undone in the film’s epic but slightly underwhelming and anticlimactic conclusion, we sort of wish he had remained more of a mystery.

The film’s finale isn’t the only thing which keeps this from reaching the level of the first movie, and aside from some liberal, perhaps excessive use of CGI, which on rare occasions feels like it was done by the lowest bidder, ‘IT Chapter Two’ just isn’t as terrifying or creepy as its 2017 predecessor—although to be fair that was to some extent inevitable, as adults facing forgotten fears was never going to be as frightening as kids being tenderised by terror. Also, as a near three hour full-circle odyssey it doesn’t have the luxury of being as tight and well formed as the first part either, having to centre the story around the very concept of memory while bridging nearly three decades and being more reflective, and the result is a narrative which occasionally meanders a bit more than we’d like.

While these stumbling blocks make this follow-up a tad less memorable than the first part, they fall well short of preventing us from thoroughly enjoying and appreciating the sheer scale and potency of this still mighty sequel. Muschietti goes all out here, the spectacle is huge and the horrific set-pieces are often glorious, featuring some creative, nerve-shredding nightmarish Pennywise manifestations which will curdle the blood—speaking of which there’s a record volume of the crimson stuff, or so the film’s press tour leads us to believe. And it’s all vividly shot by Peruvian cinematographer Checco Varese, who gives it a beautiful visual style not often seen in blockbuster horror, while British composer Benjamin Wallfisch (IT, Blade Runner 2049) returns with a sonorous butt-clenching score.

In some ways ‘IT Chapter Two’ is as much a character piece as it is old-school supernatural horror—and old-school horror with a modern veneer it is—so the performances of a huge cast are key, and luckily for us both generations of the Losers deliver in spades.

The new yet older cast of prove ideal choices for their roles, excelling as figures who have simultaneously moved on yet remained anchored to a dark past, with Jessica Chastain shinning as the lynchpin female force, along with the equally impressive Sophia Lillis in the same role—indeed the whole returning cast of teen Losers are on top form. For us though it’s James Ransone who steals the most scenes and proves the redemptive heart of the piece as high-strung hypochondriac Eddie, while also providing much of the film’s humour, along with Bill Hader of course.

Whilst it may not have terrified us and captured our imagination in as flawless a fashion as 2017’s first part, ‘IT Chapter Two’ still proves to be an impressive achievement in mainstream horror filmmaking, and a majorly satisfying ensemble piece in its own right. Most importantly though, it completes a horror epic from Andy Muschietti in style, and certainly one of best adaptations of Stephen King’s horror work in a very long while.

If this film, and indeed both parts of the story feel timely and perceptive, we have King’s original novel to thank for it, another masterful blend of psychological and supernatural horror with deep personal tones and strong social echoes—dealing with everything from childhood trauma and abuse to homophobia and racism, plus bullying of course. It also uses Pennywise and the terror he both perpetuates and feeds on as a metaphor for the darkness and hate hiding under the surface of middle America, and in all of us . . . yes even you. So lest we forget to be mindful and risk letting it all out—a message perhaps more relevant now than ever.

The Bottom Line…

A majorly satisfying and worthy if not quite as flawless follow-up to 2017’s first part, ‘IT Chapter Two’ expertly brings the story full circle and completes a triumphant translation of Stephen King’s masterfully horrific tale of childhood trauma, fear and friendship for the big screen—no doubt launching, or at least propelling the careers of stars both young and older . . . and most of all its director.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

IT (1990)

A group of former high-school misfit friends reunite thirty years after being terrorised by a child-snatching killer clown in their small home town, now determined to discover the dark supernatural truth behind ‘Pennywise’ the murderous clown and be free from the fear it feeds on once and for all, in this two-part TV mini-series adaptation of the classic Stephen King novel.

Directed by Tommy Lee Wallace and starring Richard Thomas, John Ritter and Annette O’Toole among others.

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