After the release of “It” in 2016, many fans, including ourselves, were long awaiting the release of the second movie. While the sequel to the 2016 blockbuster was highly anticipated, “IT Chapter 2” falls short on many of the key aspects that made the first one as great as it was. 

Return to Derry

“IT Chapter 2”  is based off the second half of Stephen King’s novel and picks up 27 years after where the first movie left off. Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) has reappeared again in Derry and the number of disappearances are growing at an alarming rate, causing Mike (Isaiah Mustafa) to call back the Losers Club.

 The Losers then begin the mission to kill Pennywise (Bill Skarsgård) and the elongated 2 hour and 49 minute movie ends with a very anticlimactic ending, taking an almost humorous approach for what should have been an epic fight and ending. 

The movie also showcases new and returning relationships, some of which apply to the plot and others act as small side stories that effect the viewers’ overall feelings and hit them right in the feels.

Memories, all bad 

There are many flashbacks during the movie, which were enjoyable most of the time, because it once again shows off the talents of the kid cast, but at some points it took away from the amazing adult cast they assembled. Furthermore, it didn’t really support or further the plot which created bad pacing throughout the movie.

The adult cast however, especially Bill Hader who plays Richie in the film, does a phenomenal of showing the emotions one would have in that situation while still keeping the movie funny and entertaining. 

While the movie lacks a little in its content, the movie is visually beautiful and Andrés Muschietti does a decent job directing the film. The transitions especially stand out to us as one of the best changes made during editing. 

That fortune cookie is looking at me! 

Compared to past screen adaptations of Stephen King’s book, this one stays very true to the source material. For example, the 1990 mini series left out the scene where a gay couple is beaten and thrown into a river because it was too controversial, but it was included in this movie. Even though it caused some controversy, we didn’t see a problem with it. 

There were too many storylines included though. It was very difficult to keep up with throughout the nearly 3 hour film, which was too long and got slow at points.

Pennywise also took many forms in this movie and there was an excessive amount of computer generated imagery (CGI) used in it which differs from the first one where it was heavily limited. While taking many forms put an emphasis on Pennywise’s powers, it dragged the movie down. 

If it ever comes back, we’ll come back too

“IT Chapter 2” is an instance in which the first one is better than the sequel, but it has some good elements that make it a movie you’ll be talking about for hours to come. After seeing the first movie we were excited for its sequel, but it just fell short on some of the big factors. 

Featured Image Citation: “Stephen King” by John Robinson is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic   No changes were made to the image. Use of this photo does not indicate photographer endorsement of this article.