It Chapter 2 review

In 2017, I reviewed chapter 1 of It so it only makes sense that I review the second part now.

Every twenty-seven years, the inter-dimensional, supernatural creature Pennywise the Clown (Ben Skaarsgaard) preys on the citizens of Derry, Maine.  Having defeated Penny wise as children, Bill Denborough, (James Mcavoy) Beverly Marsh, (Jessica Chastain) Richie Tozier (Bill Hader) Mike Hanlon, (Isaiah Mustafu) Ben Hanscom, (Jay Ryan) and Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransome) return to defeat It once and for all.

Although It is supposed to be a horror film, the horror elements were the weakest part.  This was because of the sheer over-reliance on CGI and jumpscares.  From the mutated creatures hatching from fortune cookies to the young Beverly Marsh (Sophia Lillis) being depicted as a flaming skeleton, I was more repulsed/ amused rather than scared.  Instead of hiding behind the sofa, I was rolling my eyes at the silliness of it all.  At some points, I almost wanted to laugh out loud.

The truly scary moments were when we were faced with plain human evil – no CGI, jumpscares, just good writing and acting.  The film opens with gay couple Don Hagarty and Adrian Mellon being brutally beaten up by some homophobic teenagers.  The grown-up Beverly Marsh is married to an abusive husband who whispers instead of shouts.  The adult Stanley Uris (Andy Bean) kills himself, as he is too afraid to return to Derry with his friends.  Even the build-up of the stupid ‘Beverly Marsh as a flaming skeleton’ scene was scarier than the actual scene itself.

In a flashback, Ben Hanscom gets a quiet moment with his unrequited love, Beverly.  He misreads the situation and tries to kiss her.  She brutally rejects him, asking how she could want to kiss an ugly, stupid, fat boy like him.  Afterwards, she turns into a flaming skeleton.  This version of Beverly Marsh was really Pennywise in disguise but seeing one of our heroes being so cruelly abused, by what should be his friend, was far scarier than some silly CGI.

All four of these scenes were far scarier than the best special effects that Final Cut Pro had to offer, because these scares were earned.  Rather than trying to repulse or shock, director Andy Muschietti subtly built atmosphere.  After all, what’s scarier? Being the victim of an unprovoked hate crime, being torn apart by the love of your life or some silly little monster that you can squish under your thumb.

This isn’t to say that Ben Skaarsgaard wasn’t great as Pennywise.  He was very creepy, but Muschietti was over-reliant on CGI.  Some of the best parts came from the characters and the chemistry they shared.  The scene where we see all 6 main characters reunite in the Chinese restaurant is great evidence of this, if you ignore the fortune cookie scene afterwards.  Bill Hader was perfectly cast as the adult Richie Tozier and his rapport with James Ransom, Eddie Kaspbrak, gave the film some much light-needed relief.  It also made for the remarkably poignant bittersweet ending where Eddie dies saving Richie’s life.

Similar to its predecessor, there is a definite over-reliance on CGI and jump scares, but solid character work makes this is an enjoyable if uneven watch.  At almost 3 hours, you can argue that it is over long.  But with the book being over 1000 pages long, far longer than it needs to be, almost 3 hours doesn’t seem that bad now.