It Chapter 2 Movie Review

The First Was Better, But This Was Still Decent

Well guys, I saw It Chapter 2 last night, and it was pretty good. I enjoyed It (2017) a lot more, but It Chapter 2 was pretty entertaining.

It Chapter 2 takes up the story of the first film 27 years later. The clown is back, and the loser club have to come back together, to defeat the It, once and for all.

I want to say, they picked an outstanding cast for this film. Bravo. The transitions were also really well done in the film. The pacing was a bit off though, and I wish there was more character development with the adult actors. But in the end, it was still entertaining.

Starting off with the actors. Fantastic choices. I applaud the decisions made in this sphere. James McAvoy as Bill, Jessica Chalstain as Beverly, Bill Harder as Richie, Isaiah Mustafa as Mike, Jay Ryan as Ben, James Ransone as Eddie, Andy Bean as Stanley, and Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise, I applaud this fantastic cast. I also want to mention the kids who the cast from the first It film too. Jaeden Martell as Bill, Wyatt Oleff as Stanley, Jack Dylan Grazer as Eddie, Finn Wolfhard as Richie, Sophia Lillis as Beverly, Chosen Jacobs as Mike, and Jeremy Ray Taylor as Ben. Congrats to all of you. I don't normally write out the entire main cast of a film, but you guys deserve it. Fantastic performances all around. Now speaking to my personal preference, I actually think the child actors did a heck of a lot better than the adult actors. It's surprising I know, but those kids have talent and I can't wait to see what their acting careers have to hold.

The transitions in this film are absolutely fantastic. I loved each and every one of them. It must have been fun being in the editing room for this project. They do some creative stuff in the film, and I love it.

Now onto my criticisms of the film. I have two, and this will impact the overall score. I don't blame the actors for this, but the script. First off, the pacing kinda sucks. It felt like they wanted to rush through a 169 minute runtime. I don't know how the heck they did it, but the film flew by. The movie was heavily plot driven rather than story, and it shows. Also, I would have loved to have seen a ton more character development in It Chapter 2. It would have been so freaking cool if they showed the adults get to know each other again and rekindle their spark. However, the film does have a couple scenes like this, but they are so freaking rushed. I wish they would have cut back on the action a bit and given more development to the characters.

The camera work was fun and creative. Most of the shots in the film were well composed. The color scheme worked well for the tone. The music could have been a little better, I don't think I would go back for the soundtrack. The directing was well done for the most part in this film. I think the director Andy Muschietti was rushed for this project. The reason being was that the first It film was so well done and even made it on my top 5 films of 2017 list. I didn't feel the passion in this one as the previous one had. I think if he was given a little more time and more control over the project, it might have turned out better.

In the end, It Chapter 2 was an entertaining film. I don't think it lived up to the first one, but it wasn't bad. I would recommend seeing it at least once, just to know how the story ends and to see the great performances in the film. I had high hopes going in, and I was a little let down, but not so much that I didn't enjoy It Chapter 2. It Chapter 2 is still a solid film, but won't make my top 5 films of 2019 list. I want to end this review by saying, It Chapter 2 is still worth a watch.

final score: 3.3/5