Movie Review: IT Chapter Two

Reception

Following a successful release of IT, in 2017, It Chapter 2 had many eyes watching during its release weekend where it raked in $185 Million, the second-best global start for a horror movie, only trailing behind its predecessor, IT. Although the movie was a success statistically, many watchers were not satisfied to their high expectations following the first movie.

The only problem with this film was its length. Not including the trailer and advertisements, the film is 2 hours and 49 minutes. Even if you find the movie interesting and were engaged, it was still a long hard watch. Many theaters reported not being able to show the film as much as they as wanted, due to the length of the movie and all the time accounted for turning each theater back around to show another. Customers would not leave until 1AM and employees would have to be payed extra to stay and work until 2AM-3AM.

Despite the film being too long, it is receiving somewhat favorable reviews. It’s currently carrying a 58 on Metacritic. Even Rotten Tomatoes scored the film at 63%, which is not bad considering how harsh critics on the TomatoMeter can be.

The first IT held the No. 1 spot at the box office for 2 weeks in a row, and this is likely to be the case as well. Los Angeles was Chapter Two’s biggest market at 9% of all ticket sales followed by New York and Chicago.

The Loser’s Club as adults

The Crusader’s Take

Personally, I really liked It Chapter 2. The film was enjoyable to watch. The effects were spot on, and the horror was suspenseful and scary. Throughout the movie, all the characters that IT played, were funny, dramatic and horrifying.

Especially after seeing the first IT installment, I could connect with how the characters felt and all their flashbacks that they referred to. Watching the first IT is almost mandatory if you want to truly enjoy and understand exactly what is going on in Chapter 2.

One aspect of the movie that I liked was the comedy that was tossed in here and there. Right when you are on the edge of your seat, waiting to see what pops out, a naked grandma monster comes out of the dark and is chasing a character around. Scenes like this keep the movie from being an absolute fear feast while instilling a bit of edgy comedy.

Although I did like a lot of the movie, there were some parts that I didn’t enjoy. Such as the connection between the characters. In the first movie, all the kids were best friends and had a bond with each other that was so genuine. In Chapter 2, there was absolutely no connection between their adult counterparts. As soon as they all met together, you could tell there was a big difference in contrast to 27 years earlier when they were best friends. The chemistry is just not there, and it makes a difference as it is vital for them all to work together to take down IT.

IT Chapter 2 is a refreshing sequel to the first that is more like a continuation of the story that had to be broken into two because of the huge amount of source material. It displays good horror with a little comedy sprinkled in, along with an interesting plot that will grab your emotions. Overall, it is fun movie that has a little bit of everything, but be ready to invest somewhat significant portion of your evening.