‘It Chapter Two’ is a mess that fails to live up to the hype
Bill Skarsgard returns to reprise his role as Pennywise the Dancing Clown in “It Chapter Two.” Photo by NME.com
Bill Hader, Jessica Chastain, James McAvoy and James Ransone all star in “It Chapter Two.” Photo by CNet.com
By Jack Murphy
A&E Editor
Based on the messy novel by Steven King, a messy TV movie in the 1980s and the 2017 remake of the first film, “It Chapter Two” is the sequel to the most successful horror film of all time. 27 years after the “losers club,” as the children call themselves in the film, had, for the moment, defeated Pennywise the Dancing Clown, they have returned to Derry decades later to finish the job once and for all. “It Chapter Two” features an incredible cast staring James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, Jay Ryan, James Ransone, Isaiah Mustafa, Andy Bean, the adolescent actors from the first film and Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
2017’s “It” is a special film to me because it was the first review I have ever done for the Campus Chronicle, and it is still one of my favorite reviews I have ever written. If you are interested, you can find my article on the previous film on our website. While I enjoyed the first film in this series, I had issues with it. The main issue was its failures to capitalize on scares, but overall I liked “It” and was excited for the sequel, especially after I saw the cast. However, the sequel only takes the issues from the first film and makes them worse.
I will get to those later, but first it is important to address the positive aspects of the film, starting with how fantastic as they always seem to deliver in whatever film they are in, regardless of the film’s quality. However, the two that steal the show are Hader and Ransone. These two are the heart of the film, and both of them are incredibly funny. Hader has always been one of my favorite actors, as I have been a fan of his even during his “SNL” days. Seeing him get cast as Richie was awesome, and I knew he was going to be great, but the fact that he was given the most to do out of the all these incredible actors was satisfying.
Ransone is not as well known actor as Hader, but if you have seen either of the “Sinister” movies, Ransone plays the deputy that helps Ethan Hawke out in the first film. He was decent in the “Sinister” movies, but he is much better in this. Not only does he look exactly like Jack Dylan Grazer all grown up, but he also completely nails everything that made Eddie so great in the first film.
The cast from the first film are featured in “It Chapter Two” a lot more than I thought they would be going into film. They are not bad in the film, but there is a big difference between a 12 year old and a 14 year old. Puberty already started to affect these young actors, and according to director Andy Muschietti, the studio digitally deaged these kids and edited the pitch- es of their voices to make them sound and look younger.
I only really noticed this when it came to Finn Wolfhard, who plays young Richie, and Jack Dylan Grazer, who plays young Eddie. Wolfhard in particular was one of the most blatant examples of this, as he had gotten taller and his voice has gotten way deeper since they recorded the first film in 2016. However, the other actors seemed just fine, and I did not notice any- thing that stood out about them.
Finally, there is Skars- gård as Pennywise the Dancing Clown. As I mentioned in my review of the first film, Skarsgård’s take on the character was different compared to Tim Curry’s classic performance in the TV movie. Skars- gård’s Pennywise did not act like a real clown at all, but a monster wearing a clown costume. This is distinct from Curry’s Pennywise, which acted like a normal clown that was actually a monster.
While I prefer Curry’s Pennywise to Skarsgård’s, I will say that when Skarsgård is just talking to a kid or is not running and screaming towards the cam- era, he is doing incredible. There is a scene early on with Pennywise and a little girl underneath some bleachers that is the best Pennywise scene in the film. However, Pennywise is completely misused in the film once again.
“It Chapter Two” took the most annoying aspect of the first film and not only doubled down on it, but made it a million times worse, and that is GCI monsters attacking the protagonists with a loud noise in the background. Let me explain to you what takes up the entire second half of “It Chapter Two,” because it is mind blowing. Every character has separated off to find a personal item to use against Pennywise in a ritual. Each of them goes to a spot from the first film that was special to them individually. They flashback to them as kids, and then Pennywise shows up in the form of a CGI monster they fear. After their flashback ends, the adults are then attacked by a big CGI monster or Pennywise because the studio wants more scenes with the clown.
When Richie’s flashback finishes, the encounter with Pennywise is fantastic and really creepy because it is not a loud noise or some monster sprinting at the camera. No, it is Pennywise insulting Richie with creepy visuals in the background, which is when Pennywise works. The opening scene is one of the creepiest of the entire film because, once again, Pennywise is not doing too much. He is just in the background doing creepy things, and that is generally scary.
To emphasize this point even more, I am going to reference “The Conjuring 2” because that film suffered for this exact reason. The nun was the standout from “The Conjuring 2” because of her creepy look and the way that she was used in one scene in particular. When the nun is first shown inside the Warren’s house, there is a cut to a hallway where the nuns are looking menacing. There is creepy music to accompany the shot, adding up to create a beyond terrifying visual. The rest of the scene divulges into a long game of finding out where the nun is and a creepy portrait of her that may or may not be real. The scene ends with nun screaming at the audience with her CGI teeth exposed accompanied by a loud noise, taking away all tension in the scene and nearly ruining the scene as a result. This same issue was found in many of the Pennywise scenes, as the film relied too heavily on jump-scares.
“It Chapter Two” has almost no plot either, which is insane because the film is three hours. Pennywise has returned, the losers club have to perform a ritual to kill Pennywise, find objects from their past and face off against the clown in a final showdown. That storyline should have a runtime between 90 to two hours max, but “It Chapter Two” is three hours of filling in time with more clown and grand jump scares that fail to genuinely scare the audience. “It Chapter Two” had no business being three hours long, and it just begins to take its toll on the audience because the pacing is a mess as a result of shoving useless scenes in to make more time.
“It Chapter Two” is a disappointing follow up to the most successful horror movie of all time. It had glimpses of greatness scattered around a bloated, three-hour mess of cheap jump-scares and CGI monsters. These take their toll on the film, making it a disappointment. However, I would still recommend the film if you are a fan of horror movies, especially if you enjoyed the original “It,” as the bright spots are truly great. I would just go in with your expectations lowered because its problems do become frustrating. I give “It Chapter Two” a C-.