It Chapter Two - Movie Review - Three hours of what exactly?

This film is a 15, was released on September 6th 2019, and this review will contain NO SPOILERS 

Introduction 

I'm not really a huge fan of horror movies as I generally don't like the idea of getting scared as entertainment. So, going by this, I never saw It (2017). It didn't particularly seem like the kind of thing that I'd get anything out of. However, literally the day before I saw this, I decided to watch it for the first time to see if I was wrong. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed it. It's a really well-acted, enjoyable, engaging, and well made film, despite not being particularly scary to me and a bit too long. But, I enjoyed it to the extent that I wanted to see the next chapter of this story. 

Thoughts Going In 

Like I said, I saw It for the first time the day before I saw this, so I don't really have a great deal of affinity for it nor did I have much time to really form an opinion about what I was about to see. I didn't really think I'd be writing an in-depth review as I guessed all that I'd have to say could be condensed into an NMTS review. But, I suspected it'd be something very similar to the original if the trailers were anything to go by, so I was moderately looking forward to it.

The Story 

27 years after the Losers club defeated Pennywise, he's back to haunt the town of Derry. So, Mike, the only member who remained there, calls the rest of the gang back together in the hopes that they can put aside their subsequently made differences and truly defeat the evil clown and all the evil he brings about. 

What I Liked 

The best thing about this film is the acting and characters. Firstly, the casting is fantastic. I don't believe for one minute that these are not grown up versions of the children from the original - it's near perfection. The performances they give off also feel very reminiscent of how the characters were beforehand. You can tell what each of them have been through and how it has had an effect on them in some way. That and they were all really likeable and quriky. I can't really pick a favourite as they were all equally great, but I do think James McAvoy was my favourite if I had to choose. This was a great strength as it was the best part of the original, so to see it wasn't lost was relieving. Bill Skarsgard was also excellent as Pennywise. His deliciously freaky voice and appearance were great. He makes for a really threatening and oddly entertaining antagonist. 

The way the film looks and sounds is appropriately gorgeous and unsettling. It gives off a frequent sense of fear from the somewhat muted colour palette and evokes it when a sudden burst of bright blue or blood red appears. The way the music also swells around certain scenes is chilling and it knows when to cut it for effect. Certain sound effects like creepy laughs also created an eerie atmosphere. So, it was good to see that this film was both a pleasure to watch and listen to, and have both elements take you right into the world of the film. 

The one other thing I really liked about this film was the way that it followed up from the original. Bear in mind that this isn't coming from someone who adores the first film like many others do, but I thought this was a really satisfying narrative. All the loose ends feel like they've been tied up, without it feeling like there's a single thread left behind, and there are many sweet callbacks to the first film which incorporated in a nice theme of memory and confronting your past, which I liked. It was also neat to see some parallels between how the characters acted around one another as children and how they do so as adults. 

What I Didn't Like 

The length is problematic. You've probably seen this criticism but I thought I'd throw mine in too. I think a film being long is only ever a problem if you're not enjoying it, so I have no problems sitting through films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy or, more recently, Avengers: Endgame, because I enjoy those films enormously. With this, I was enjoying it quite a bit, but not enough to endure nearly three-hours worth of material. I also felt as if that runtime didn't need to be, as many scenes could've been shortened and the film would still work just fine, or even better.

One thing I admired about the first film was the fact that it wasn't necessarily scary, but it was horrifying. Now, obviously fear is extremely subjective so this argument really only works for me and / or other people that weren't scared of the first It film. But, to me, even though I wasn't scared, I still thought there were plenty of horrific elements in it, such as the zombies, or bathroom covered in blood, or the way Pennywise's mouth opens. These elements were enough to connote to me, the viewer, why the children in the film were scared or uncomfortable. And, it was used to the right extent where I didn't feel uncomfortable watching the film and could still enjoy watching them on their adventure, because usually when I'm scared of something, I'd have to look away or stop listening which I feel could take me out of the film, even though I completely relate to the fear the characters feel. Here, I felt the horrific elements were a bit excessive. This may seem like a silly argument when talking about a horror film, as it may have been an intentional decision here to go above and beyond with the horror, but I don't feel that it needed to be. The first film managed to show fear without going crazy, so this film didn't have to either. I also think this may be a viewpoint unique to myself as unrealistic horror such as this doesn't scare me because it is very clear that it isn't real. Also, in regards to jump-scares, this film has them and I don't regard them as actual scariness in a film, because they're scary in the moment and never again. Also, they're not even that scary in the moment because it doesn't take a genius to see when one is on the way. 

Another minor issue I have is that I feel like the characters are bit less compelling as adults. When they were all children, you felt as if they all needed one another as being young makes them much more vulnerable to anything that happens to them, and the way they bickered was more believeable and more entertaining. Here, they're still great as I said earlier, but some of the novelty has been lost. This wasn't a dealbreaker, but something I did notice while watching. 

Conclusion 

How I feel about It Chapter Two is nearly the exact same as how I feel about It. Both are well acted and look and sound great with clever narratives, while being a bit too long and not really scary. However, as much as this may seem so, I think the first is slightly better. It's a better length, doesn't feel excessively horrific, and has a more compelling set of characters. That said, I did still enjoy this film enough. It has plenty of what I wanted to see for me to say I had a fine time. So, I'm sure anyone who liked the original will get something out of this, even if there are some issues that present themselves. 

I'm going to give It Chapter Two a 6/10